Lily, James, and the Old Gang
by blondeveela27
Summary: She has a rough start, but is soon enchanted by the Midnight Rose, a scary and mysterious flower. *terrible summary really* but please r/r. will go through all 7 years at Hogwarts
1. Year 1 Chapter 1

Lily, James, and the OLD gang  
"LILY MARIE EVANS! IF YOU DON'T GET IN THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW I'LL SEND PETUNIA OUT TO GET YOU!"  
  
Lily Evans was outside, sitting under a willow tree, reading a book. This was her favorite spot to be in the summer; it was the only place where she could keep cool. She picked a long blade of grass to use as her bookmark and headed towards her house. She didn't want her sister Petunia to come outside and drag her in. As soon as Lily entered the kitchen, her mother went off on her.  
  
"Lily, I've been calling you every 15 minutes for an hour! And every time, you said you'd be right in. Well, little girl, as punishment I will be taking your book," Mrs. Evans held out her hand. Lily reluctantly gave it to her. "And you will stay in your room, with no dinner, until your father gets home. He will be having a talk with you, I can assure that."  
  
Lily turned around to go to her room. She was really getting into the book and now she couldn't even read it. She could feel her eyes start to sting. She thought to herself, 'Oh, really now, there's no use to cry about a book!' she ran up the stairs to her room and shut the door quietly. Lily never understood why her mother was always yelling at her for reading. It was better than what Petunia did all day, talking on the phone about boys and makeup. If she wasn't on the phone, she was complaining to her mother about why she couldn't go shopping that day. Lily had never really gotten along with her sister. At least not since Petunia started school. She made friends and she was too cool to bring her sister anywhere with her. Lily didn't mind. She wasn't forced to hand around Petunia so this gave her a lot more time to do what she liked to do.  
  
Lily entered her room, opened the window and flopped down on her bed. She used to get along with her mother very well. It was only recently that things were starting to be weird. It was on Lily's eleventh birthday. He mother had treated Lily and herself to a day at a spa and got the full treatment from head to foot. Lily still couldn't understand what happened. They returned home and Lily went up to her room to see Petunia trashing all her stuff just because she was jealous. Lily could remember getting very angry and glaring at Petunia really hard. When she finally blinked she had a strong headache and Petunia ran out of the room clutching her arm in pain. When Lily got downstairs to get some aspirin, her mom was cleaning a deep gash in Petunia's arm. She obviously thought that Lily had purposely done that, and didn't ask how. She seemed to be holding that against Lily now. Lily never figured out why it happened (She eventually would once the fall came). Lily and her dad got along great. He admitted to her once that they spoiled Petunia far too much. He always made Lily feel special by using nicknames for her like Tiger Lily and princess. Everyone knew that she was daddy's little girl. She never did talk to her dad that night. He got home very late. Lily was in bed but ended up being awakened by an argument her parents were having.  
  
"Kat I refuse to go yell at my daughter for reading! Of all things reading! That's foolishness" her father, Greg, started.  
  
"But she was purposely ignoring me. She was acting like a little child." Her mother was aggravated.  
  
"She is a child! She has just turned 11 years old! What are you expecting from her?"  
  
"I'm expecting her to act like the lady she is and to respect her parents."  
  
"Lily is a perfect young lady. She has better manners than any of us, especially better than Petunia. If anyone need to start acting like a lady it's her!"  
  
Kat didn't say anything for a while. She knew her husband was right but she didn't want to admit that.  
  
"You don't mean that. Petunia is perfect the way she is. I think its time now that you punish Lily."  
  
Her father's face was bright red now. "I WILL NOT PUNISH LILY. Neither will you! This conversation is OVER!" With his final statement, Greg stormed out of the room and into his study slamming the door. Kat didn't know what to do with herself so she started to wash dishes. She was sobbing silently.  
  
The next morning, Lily woke up with puffy eyes. She ended up crying herself to sleep. She felt responsible for making her parents fight. Lily got out of bed and put on her slippers. She headed for her door but than re- thought. It was still very early; the sun was just starting to rise. No one would be up yet. She decided to go for a walk. She got changed, grabbed her sneakers and snuck outside. She sat down on the front steps and tied her shoes. She jogged to the end of her driveway (which was rather long) but once she got the street she walked. She walked down her street and turned the corner. She entered into a jog. The air was already humid so she could tell it would be a hot day. She got to the end of the street she was on and turned onto another one. Lily was surprised at the energy she had. She has never really been that athletic. Her jogging turned into a run. Lily turned back onto her street. She was barely winded. This surprised her even more. She decided to go around again. When she finished her second lap she went on another. On her fourth time, she went all out. She was sprinting down the streets. Her entire body was putting out everything she had. Lily rounded the corner and saw her driveway. She could tell her body was exhausted but she didn't slow down. Her chest hurt from breathing so hard. She closed her eyes as she turned onto her driveway and took a deep breath. Lily opened her eyes to see something right in front of her. She felt herself hit it and collapse to the ground.  
Lily woke up in her room. Her body ached all over especially her head. She could see her parents in the doorway. They were talking to a man.  
  
"I can't thank you enough for bringing her home Mr."  
  
"Dumbledore. But please call me Albus. I was on my way here anyway. I had some exciting news for Lily and yourselves."  
  
Lily sat up in her bed only to get dizzy and fall back down. She groaned a little and her mom turned around  
  
"Sweetie you're awake!" Her mother exclaimed.  
  
Her father turned around and gave Lily a hug. "You had me worried kiddo." He whispered in her ear. She smiled and hugged her dad harder. Lily looked at the door where the man who called himself Albus was standing.  
  
"Do come in Mr. Dumbledore." She said quietly. Albus smiled and entered the room.  
  
"Lily I was wondering if I could speak to you for a minute," He asked as walking towards her bed. Her parents standing off to the side. "Privately." He added. Her parents exchanged nervous glances.  
  
"Uh, Albus, I don't know about this. No offense of course but."  
  
"It's enough said Mr. Evans. I'm leaving the decision to Lily if she would like you present or not. But before she does, let me give her her letter."  
  
Dumbledore handed Lily an envelope with her name and address on it on green ink. She turned it over to see a wax seal of a lion, eagle, badger, and snake united on an H. she pulled out the letter and started reading. As she continued her facial expressions kept changing. She finished and turned to her parents.  
  
"Please leave Mr. Dumbledore and I alone." She sounded nervous. Her parents looked surprised but left the room. There was a moment of silence before Dumbledore spoke.  
  
"To start, please call me Professor Dumbledore or just Professor. As you saw in the letter, I am the headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am pleased to give you your letter today. It's not everyday the headmaster comes to your house," He winked at her before continuing, " I know this must be a shock to you and is probably very hard to believe. We have been watching you Miss. Evans. You have a great amount of power. If you choose to attend Hogwarts these powers will advance greatly. Now I suggest you make your decision now before telling your parents. But of course, it is up to you." Dumbledore concluded.  
  
Lily had been sitting on her bed in a state of shock. How could she be a witch? Dumbledore was staring at her with interest.  
  
"I-er-would like to speak to my father." Lily said quietly.  
  
Dumbledore exited the room. Mr. Evans entered alone and shut the door. He walked towards her bed. Lily stretched out her arm with the letter in her hand. Her father took the letter. When he finished reading it, he stared at Lily.  
  
"Is this a joke?" He asked very seriously.  
  
"No father," she replied.  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
"I would like to attend." Lily blurted out.  
  
Her father stared once again at his daughter. "Do you really?"  
  
"Yes. Professor Dumbledore says I have real potential. I want to try." Lily said this all very quickly. She didn't know what her father was going to do.  
  
"Ok then" he walked over to Lily and gave her a hug. "Whatever you want to do is fine by me. I think we better tell your mother. Or at least I will. Mr. Dumbledore is very eager to get your answer."  
  
Lily was so surprised she couldn't find the words thank you. Instead she grinned at her father. He left the room and Lily fell back into her pillow. She could only smile.  
  
"Your father said that you have made a decision." Dumbledore stated as he entered the room.  
  
"Yes professor, I would lov-"  
  
"WHAT!?" Lily's mother screamed in the hall. She heard her father usher her mother downstairs.  
  
"As I was saying, I would love to attend your school." Lily was beaming. As she finished her sentence Dumbledore's face lit up.  
  
"Wonderful! Now Miss. Evans there is so much to do. As you are Muggle born, I suggest setting you up to stay with a wizard family for the remainder of the summer. This way they can fill you in on everything and help you get your supplies. I must talk to your parents. I will see you at Hogwarts."  
  
Before Lily could say anything, Dumbledore had left the room to meet with Lily's parents in the kitchen. Once again Lily fell back onto her pillow. She was in shock, but was very happy.  
  
"I'm a witch." She giggled to herself. 


	2. Author's notes and disclaimers

Hey Everyone! I'm finally posting my story on fanfiction.net. I'm still posting on the HP message boards, I have my own site for this story, and post it on another site as well. I just want people's opinions on this and I hope that people enjoy it. This first page will just be a disclaimer, summary etc. I'll have the first chapter up in no time!  
  
Disclaimer: I absolutely do not own Harry Potter or any characters created by the genius woman jk rowling. There are characters I have created myself, but everyone should know the difference between rowling and fanfic. Seriously now, she's the real thing!  
  
Summary: Lily Evans is attending her first year at Hogwarts. She has a rough start, but is soon enchanted by the Midnight Rose, a scary and mysterious flower.  
  
author's note-year one is finished, it will take awhile for me to break it up into chapters though. I am in the middle of writing the second year and I should be done with that in the near future 


	3. Year 1 Chapter 2

She was too excited to stay in her bed so she got dressed and headed downstairs to see her family. When she entered the kitchen. Dumbledore was gone. Her mother was making tea and her father was sitting at the table. Petunia still hadn't returned from a sleepover at a friend's house. Lily went over to the table and sat down. Her mother was the first to say anything. Lily was ready for the worst.  
  
"Here's your book back. I just wanted to tell you that no matter what you think in your head, I love you and I am proud of you. I find all this stuff coming is fascinating. I do hope that you don't hate me. I don't know what I would do if you did-"  
  
Mrs. Evans was cut off by Lily giving her a giant hug.  
  
"Thanks Mum." Lily whispered in her ear.  
  
"Of course. Now Professor Dumbledore mentioned something about staying with a wizard family for a while. Do you know when you'll get this information?"  
  
Lily shook her head. Her father hadn't said anything. He was 'reading' his newspaper but Lily saw his eyes weren't moving.  
  
"Er-Dad? Are you okay with all this?" Lily was worried.  
  
"Yes sweetie. I'm very proud of you. We will have to tell Petunia all this when she gets home." Her father's face was happy at the beginning of his statement but as he reached Petunia's name he was a bit snappy.  
  
"Tell me what exactly?" Petunia strut into the room rather snobbily.  
  
They other 3 family members exchanged glances and her mother sighed and said, "That your sister is a witch and will be attending a boarding school this upcoming fall."  
  
Petunia froze in her place. "That's impossible. There's no such thing as magic."  
  
They knew it would be very difficult to explain to Petunia so Lily dashed up to her room to get her acceptance letter. She ran back to the kitchen. Petunia hadn't moved. She handed her the parchment. As Petunia read her face turned to horror.  
  
"I can't believe this! I always knew you were a freak! You've always been different. Why couldn't you just be like me? Mum are you seriously going to let-"  
  
Lily didn't want to listen anymore. She was already trying to hold back her tears. She picked up her acceptance letter of the floor where Petunia dropped it. She left the kitchen and but the letter back in its envelope. She sat down on the couch when she heard a tapping at the window. She looked over and saw a large barn owl with something attached to its leg. She ran outside (she does a lot of running huh?) to meet the owl. It allowed her to untie the letter. It didn't fly away and nibbled on Lily's finger.  
  
"Ow! What do you want?" Lily thought maybe a treat. She went back into the kitchen where Petunia was still yelling. She grabbed a couple crackers and headed back outside. The owl accepted the treat but still didn't leave. Lily didn't force it and opened her letter.  
  
Dear Ms. Lily Evans,  
  
Albus Dumbledore has informed us that you will be attending Hogwarts this fall. He has asked us to help you out by showing and telling you about the way we live. This will be during the last two weeks of vacation and we will gladly take you to the train station on September first. Please use this owl to send your reply. We will notify Professor Dumbledore if you will be staying.  
Sincerely,  
  
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Smith  
  
P.S. Our daughter, Meg, will be a first year as well.  
  
Lily got very nervous but she screamed at the same time out of excitement. She ran inside to get a pen. She didn't even bother asking her parents. On the back of the letter she received, she wrote:  
  
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith,  
  
I would love to stay with you and thank you very much for your consideration. Please stay in touch so we can make the arrangements. Thank you again.  
Sincerely,  
Lily Evans  
  
She tied the letter to the owl's leg with some difficulty and then it went on its way. She entered the house again to tell her parents.  
  
"Mum? Dad? Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Smith invited me to stay at their house for the last two weeks of summer and take me to school on the first. I told them yes and they will be sending another owl with the arrangements."  
  
Before they could say anything, Lily left the room and escaped to her bedroom. She lay down on her bed and started to laugh for no reason at all. 


	4. Year 1 Chapter 3

***I hope your guys don't mind me skipping ahead. I don't really have any ideas for now. I'm gonna do a quick summary instead***  
  
Lily's two weeks at Meg's were great. Lily got to see magic on a daily basis and heard almost every story imaginable. She learned a lot about their history. The Smith's took Lily to Diagon Alley to get her supplies. Lily wanted September first to come. Meg and Lily were becoming best friends. They both liked doing the same things. Meg brought out the best in Lily and Lily did the same for Meg. They spent their last week before school outside. Meg had a pool and lots of trees so they were able to keep themselves busy.  
  
**~September 1~**  
  
Lily and Meg were frantic all morning. They had overslept and needed to finish packing. Lily was trying to get her owl in her cage as she was dumping all her new books into her trunk.  
  
"Please Zowie! We're already late. I'll have you sending letters as soon as we get to school!" Lily pleaded. Her owl gave in after Lily bribed her with a treat. Lily locked the cage and they were ready to go. They got to Kind Cross Station ten minutes before they train was to leave. Mrs. Smith had explained to Meg and Lily how to get onto the platform. They walked straight through the wall and onto Platform 9 ¾. They quickly said goodbye and went to find a compartment. They were lucky enough to get an empty one towards the back of the train. They were exhausted once they settled in. They agreed to try to sleep. Lily was drifting off when.  
  
"SIRIUS! What did you do that for?!"  
  
"WELL JAMES, I thought you might like a new hair-do!"  
  
Lily sat up. She could hear laughter now but someone was still yelling. She left her compartment to ask them to quiet down. She knocked on the door. A boy about her age opened it. She restrained herself from laughing as he had bright blue hair. He had glasses and blue eyes.  
  
"Um-excuse me, but my friend and I are in the next compartment and you're being awfully loud. Could you please keep it down?" Lily's voice was quivering not from being nervous, but holding back her laughter.  
  
"Oh, we're sorry about that. I'm James Potter. Excuse my hair. It's the lovely handy work of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin." James said pointy to the two boys behind him who had now stood up.  
  
"I'm Lily Evans. Are you guys in your first year as well?" She was looking at the boys who even though were 11 still were cute. Lily started to get self-conscience. She knew she looked like a rag doll. She never put much effort into her appearance.  
  
"Yeah," They answered in unison.  
  
"Well I've got to get back to my friend. I guess I'll see you around." Lily left quickly feeling humiliated. She entered her compartment and saw that Meg was still asleep. She went to her trunk and pulled out a mirror. She shivered at herself. Oh well she thought. Lily took out a book and read herself to sleep.  
  
**Back in the boys compartment** "Well she seemed nice" Remus said.  
  
"Yeah, she looked a little out of it. I haven't seen her around, have you James?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Nope. Not even all those times we were in Diagon Alley. Wonder who her friend is." James said  
  
The three boys shrugged as the candy lady came to their compartment.  
  
"Anything off the trolley dears?" The lady asked.  
  
They three boys bought at least two of everything, making sure they got extra pumpkin juice. As the boys ate they heard the candy lady go to the next compartment with the girls in it. They didn't hear them ask for anything. They shrugged it off. A while later they got the warning announcement and changed into their robes. They hadn't heard a thing from the next compartment (which could have entirely been they were so loud) the entire trip. So the boys decided to go see what the girls were doing. They opened the door and saw the two girls fast asleep. They knew that they probably hadn't heard the announcement so decided to wake them up. Of course, they weren't intending to wake them up in a nice manner. They filled 2 buckets with ice-cold water. Remus stood watch at the door while James and Sirius went over to dump the water on Meg and Lily's heads. Lily woke up with a scream. Meg jumped up and knocked Sirius on the floor at the same time. The boys were laughing hysterically.  
  
"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing? And who are you?" Meg said very frustrated.  
  
"That's James, Sirius, and Remus, Meg. I met them earlier," Lily said quietly. She had taken this rather personally. She was used to being picked on at her old school but not by people she barely knew. She wasn't even at school yet.  
  
"Are you okay Lily? It was just a joke. Plus it's raining out anyway." James asked.  
  
"Why don't you just leave? We need to get changed and you are not welcome anymore." Meg snapped. She had heard about Lily's troubles at school and didn't want anything to get worse.  
  
"Wait a second! We were just-"  
  
"Come on James. Sirius let's go" Remus butted in. he could tell something wasn't right.  
  
Meg closed the door and Lily let a few tears escape but wiped them away hastily.  
  
"Oh geez. I'm sorry Lily." Meg started but Lily told her not to bother and suggested they change. Not long after they put their wet clothes away in their trunks, the train stopped. They were told to leave their luggage on the train. They exited and were pulled into a rush of students.  
  
"First years! 'his way!" a deep voice was calling. Meg and Lily made their way along with the other first years. They were led to a lake where boats were waiting for them. Meg and Lily climbed into one that had two other girls in it. When they reached the middle of the lake, Lily saw it. Hogwarts. It was magnificent. She couldn't wait any longer. She wanted to be inside. Of course being out in the pouring rain didn't help much either. They finally got into the castle and were led down a hallway and stopped in front of two giant doors.  
  
"Good evening. I am Professor McGonagall. I am the head of Gryffindor house and teach transfiguration. Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few minutes, I will lead you into the Great Hall to be sorted into your houses. Then there will be a feast. I will see if they're ready for us." She concluded.  
  
Lily's first impression was the she did not want to be on this professor's bad side. Lily knew what house she wanted to be in. She wanted Ravenclaw since they were hard working and smart she decided she'd also like Gryffindor. They were both good houses. The only one Lily didn't want to be in was Slytherin; just by the way Meg talked about it. Lily came out of her thoughts when Professor McGonagall returned.  
  
"We're ready. Follow me please."  
  
The giant doors opened and the first years entered the hall. Lily gasped as she saw all the older students inside. Then she looked around. It was a lovely room decorated with school banners. Professor McGonagall led them up in front of the teacher's table and stopped them in front of a stool. McGonagall stepped out of the room and retrieved a hat. She placed it on a stool and it immediately began to sing. 


	5. Year 1 Chapter 4

*Skipping song*  
  
There was a loud applause. McGonagall undid her scroll. "When I call you name, you will come up and sit on the stool. I shall place the sorting hat on your head."  
  
McGonagall started calling out names. (Sorry don't feel like making a lot up)  
  
"Sirius Black!" Sirius walked up to the stool and McGonagall placed the hat on his head. Not even a minute later it exclaimed:  
  
"GRYFFINDOR"  
  
There were a few more names before, "Lily Evans." Lily nervously sat down on the stool. She felt the hat being placed on her head and heard a voice. Hmmm plenty of wisdom.yes.would do very well in Ravenclaw.but alas I can't avoid destiny.it must be  
  
"GRYFFINDOR"  
  
Lily smiled and joined her table. She watched the sorting. Remus and James were sorted into Gryffindor as well. Lily tensed when Meg got up to the stool. It seemed to take forever before the hat called..  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF."  
  
Lily sat there in shock. Her only friend was sorted into another house. She thought she was going to cry right there. (as you can tell Lily is a very emotional person [lol]) She saw Meg glance at her anxiously before sitting at her table. A few more people were sorted but Lily wasn't paying attention. She was in a daze. What would she do? Would she make friends in her own house? Lily was a bit panicky but she snapped out of her thoughts as food appeared on the table. She started to put some food on her plate, but she wasn't hungry anymore. She grabbed a couple of rolls and put butter on them. She ate the first one but then sat there at the table until the feast was over. She spent more of her time looking for Meg. She couldn't find her. The other three tables seemed to swarm together. The prefects finally led the first years to the common room. Lily was the first one up. She just wanted to sleep. They made their way through different hallways and stopped in front of a picture of a lady in a pink dress.  
  
"Password?" She asked.  
  
The prefect replied loudly so all the first years could hear, "Codswallop". The portrait swung open. The prefect told everyone about the common room and their dormitories. Lily made her way to the girls' staircase and found her door labeled FIRST YEARS. She entered into a circular room with five four-poster beds. She found her trunk in front of the bed in the middle. She quickly changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed; shutting the curtains. Only she wasn't tired anymore. She just lied there. A few tears falling down her cheek occasionally.  
  
Lily gave up sleep. She pretended when she heard her roommates come in. they peeked inside her bed but didn't say anything. At around four when everything was quiet, she got a book and headed down to the common room. She found an armchair located right in front of the fire but she still felt cold. She found a quilt on the sofa next to her and cuddled up. She read until six and then decided to get changed and go to an early breakfast.  
  
Lily headed out through the portrait hole. She didn't really know how to get anywhere except the Great Hall, so she headed there to avoid getting lost before classes. She recognized the hallway she was in and easily found the doors to the hall. She stepped inside. She glanced around at the four house tables. There was someone sitting at the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Lily felt some relief and sprinted towards the table.  
  
"Meg!"  
  
"Lily!?" the girl got up so quickly from the table she almost fell. Once she gained her balance, Lily came up and gave her a big hug.  
  
"Oh Meg! I was so upset when you didn't get into Gryffindor. I didn't eat and I couldn't sleep!"  
  
Meg laughed before saying, "Neither did I!" Lily started laughing at this too.  
  
"Why don't we eat breakfast together? I'm starved. Plus it's rather early..."  
  
As soon as that was said the food appeared on the table. The girls heartily served themselves. They talked about what happened the previous night and decided to have breakfast and afternoon tea together. They knew that they would have at least one class together so they waited anxiously for their schedules. Lily saw McGonagall start handing them out, so she said goodbye to Meg and took a seat at the Gryffindor table. Lily could have sworn that every eye was on her. She probably did look suspicious coming from the Hufflepuff table. She recognized one of the girls from her dorm (she had peeked in their curtains when she went up to change that morning). The girl seemed quiet so Lily tried to start a conversation.  
  
"Hi! My name is Lily. I'm, in the same dormitory as you. Sorry for not introducing myself last night. I had some rotten luck."  
  
The girl smiled and said quietly, "I'm Emma. I saw you in your bed. You seemed as upset as I was."  
  
Lily giggled nervously, "Well, my newest friend, who was basically my only friend, was sorted into another house."  
  
Emma dropped her fork. "That's scary. The same thing happened to me. Only I've known her forever, she's been my best friend for years. She was sorted into Ravenclaw. What about you?"  
  
"Hufflepuff." Lily was quite relaxed now. She had met someone that was going through the exact same thing as her. Lily hadn't realized during this conversation that her timetable was sitting on top of her goblet. She grabbed the paper and groaned. "Darn! We only have Herbology with Hufflepuff!"  
  
"Actually we also have History of Magic." Said a voice behind her that made Lily jump.  
  
"Geez Meg! Scare me to death why don't you!" Meg laughed and sat down next to her.  
  
"We only have Herbology today though. I've got to run and get my books. Want to come Emma?"  
  
Emma nodded and Meg walked with them out of the Great Hall. Lily was so into talking to the two girls that she bumped into a couple of Slytherins. She quickly apologized before returning to the conversation with Meg and Lily as they entered the entrance hall.  
  
They turned in opposite directions. Emma and Lily realized that they'd have to run if they didn't want to be late for their first class- transfiguration. They grabbed their books and hurried into the classroom. Surprisingly, they were the first ones there.  
  
"Weird" they said together and laughed. They got a seat in the second row and pulled out their books. Lily tried small talk was watching the door waiting for her friend to come. She practically screamed with delight when her she finally walked through the door. She and another girl sat down in back of Lily and Emma. Emma was already reading a note that her friend passed to her when walking by. Lily watched as more people came in. she saw the three boys that she met on the train take a seat in the back. Another boy Lily didn't recognize followed them. She saw the other three girls in her dorm and made a not to introduce herself. She was quickly brought out of her thoughts by a cat walking through the door. It jumped up onto the teacher's desk and stared at the class.  
  
The chatter in the classroom stopped. The cat was just eyeing every student. All of them thought the cat was staring just at them. Then there were gasps. Before their eyes the cat turned into a person. Their teacher, Professor McGonagall. They all clapped and Lily swore she saw McGonagall smile for a millisecond.  
  
"Good morning class. Welcome to transfiguration."  
  
Their first class went by quickly. McGonagall showed them everything they would be transfiguring that year and assigned some reading and a short essay. Lily walked out of the class in a good mood. She headed for Herbology. Her spirits lifted even more. She was going to see Meg there! 


	6. Year 1 Chapter 5

Lily got to greenhouse one just in time. She walked inside and immediately went to see Meg, but was stopped as the teacher spoke.  
  
"Hello and welcome to Herbology."  
  
Lily wasn't listening; she was trying to get Meg's attention. She was distracted when she heard, "Lily Evans and Sirius Black! Table one please!" Lily groaned. She felt miserable until she got a poke in her side.  
  
"Hey!" Meg whispered. She was sitting at the table next to Lily. Lily squealed but quickly shut up when Professor Sprout glanced her way. Lily turned to face front. Then she felt embarrassed. She hadn't even said hello to her partner. She turned her head to make the gesture.  
  
"Hi Sirius" she said but realized he was turned around talking to James. Lily sighed and turned back to Meg but she was talking to her partner. Sighing again she opened her book and started copying notes on the special flower they were to repot tomorrow. Sirius never said a word to her for the rest of class.  
  
The bell rang and Lily quickly got her stuff together and headed inside for lunch. Meg hadn't said bye to her after Herbology. This kind of put Lily down. She ate quickly not saying a word to anyone. She didn't feel like talking, or being social in any way. Instead, she headed for her double potions class. Little did she know the awful things were going to happen to her.  
  
Lily entered the empty classroom and got a seat in the middle row of tables. She took out her books and set her cauldron in the stand. She sat down and waited. She was fifteen minutes early.  
  
*Skipping towards the end of class*  
  
Lily was earning plenty of points for Gryffindor. She was the only person able to answer all of the potions teacher's questions. Their teacher, Professor Dailey, was nice but hard at the same time. Lily was so interested in the lecture that she didn't notice the things happening around her. The two Slytherin girls, who she had bumped into that morning, were sitting next to Lily. While Lily was taking notes, they took the liberty of charming all her books so they wouldn't open for at least a week. Then one of the girls distracted Lily as the other snuck behind her and cut her ponytail off. Lily heard laughter and noticed all the Slytherins looking at her. She didn't understand until she turned her head back to face front, where a few hairs fell in front of her face. It was short.very short. She felt her face start to burn and her eyes starting to sting. She closed her notebook and grabbed her bag. The seam tore and all her books fell out. Her face was bright red now and all she could hear was laughter. She left all her stuff and ran out of the classroom; tears streaming down her face.  
  
Lily didn't pay attention to where she was going. She just ran through the hallways for a while. She slowed down to a walk and looked around. It was only her first day and she was being picked on. Now she was lost! She looked around frantically and saw a sign:  
  
HOSPITAL WING  
  
Lily ran to the door and looked inside. There was a lady there reading a book. She looked up when Lily entered.  
  
"What can I do for you dear?" she asked with a smile. Lily broke down in tears as Madam Pomfrey hustled over to her and sitting her on a bed. "Tell me what happened." She said gently.  
  
Lily told her how she was just taking notes in Potions class (etc. etc.). When she finished Madame Pomfrey smiled and gave her some chocolate. "We'll easily be able to fix your hair. You're welcome to stay here. I'm going to go speak with Professor Dailey brewing the potion. I'll get your books while I'm there."  
  
Lily smiled. This lady was so nice. She ate her chocolate and watched Madame Pomfrey leave. She heard the bell ring signally class was over. She was lucky enough to have a free period next so she didn't have to be anywhere. She closed her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep. Lily woke up in darkness. She forgot where she was and realized after a minute that she was still in the hospital wing. She sat up and noticed her books on a table at the end of her bed. She must have missed the rest of her classes that day. She crawled to the books and picked up the piece of paper on top.  
  
Dear Lily,  
  
I hope you're okay. Those two Slytherins got detention and got 30 points taken! Professor Dailey was absolutely furious. And ya know who it was? It was those two girls that you bumped into at the beginning of the day. Talk about making a big deal over nothing. Anyways, they also put a charm on your books. Professor Flitwick easily took it off though. Inside your books are a copy of all the notes I took and the homework. Hope to see you in the dormitory. The other girls want to meet you.  
  
-Emma  
  
Lily smiled, "At least someone cares." Lily ran her hand through her hair. She gasped and pulled some of it in front of her face. It was long again! She screamed with happiness and grabbed her books. Madame Pomfrey wasn't there so she left a note continually thanking her. She glanced at the clock; 8:45. "Whoa! I've been here for awhile." Lily quickly headed out the door. A thought entered her mind; 'I have no idea where I am' she shrugged it off and just kept walking down the hallway. She occasionally took a left or right turn.  
  
She finally got to the entrance hall and made her way to the portrait hole from there. She said the password (codswallop) and entered the common room. She looked for Emma and saw her playing chess with another girl. She started to make her way over and noticed people whispering but ignored it.  
  
"Hey Emma." Lily said.  
  
"Oh! Hey Lily!" she said a bit over enthusiastically. People stared at her. "Sorry." She muttered as gesturing Lily to sit. Emma told her all the stuff she missed in her classes and Lily realized she had a lot of homework to do. She said 'bye' to Emma and headed for a table in a corner. She spread all her books out and started taking notes, reading, and writing short essays about levitation. Lily knew she would be there for hours. She decided to change into her pajamas and then get to work. She ran up to her dormitory and met 2 more of her roommates.  
  
"Hi I'm Lily Evans. Sorry for not introducing myself last night."  
  
"Oh that's alright. Emma filled us in on what was wrong. I'm Maggie Stone." Maggie was a very pretty blonde with blue eyes. She wasn't short but wasn't that tall either. Her smile was very warm and made Lily feel comfortable.  
  
"Nice to meet you." Lily said.  
  
"I'm Jacqueline, or Jack rather. I felt awful about what happened to you today in Potions. But don't worry, there will be revenge." She said with a devilish grin. This made Lily laugh. She could tell she'd fit right in with these girls.  
  
"So where's the last person?" Lily asked.  
  
"I don't know. I haven't seen her since dinner. Maybe she's in the common room." Maggie suggested.  
  
"Well I have loads of work to do. I just wanted to change before I got into it." the two other girls left and Lily got changed. She grabbed her favorite blanket and headed back to her table.  
  
Lily worked for a while. She glanced at the clock. Midnight. All Lily wanted to do was put her head down and sleep, but she was still trying to finish her essay of the flower petals of a midnight rose. **umm cough cough remember this cough cough** "How ironic" she thought to herself. She only needed half an inch on her parchment. She felt like she was asleep sitting there. She put her quill down and cracked her knuckles. She took her hair out of her messy bun and ran her fingers through it. Lily looked around the common room. There were four boys on the other side of the room. Lily recognized them as James, Sirius, and Remus. She didn't know the fourth one. She kept staring at them before realizing she still had some work to do. She turned herself around to get back to work, and jumped. Someone was sitting across from her.  
  
"You really ought to call it a night. I think you've had a rough couple of days. I'm Jessie, or Jess. I'm one of your roommates."  
  
Jessie was a very pretty girl with the blondest hair Lily had ever seen. It went down to her elbows and looked like silk. She had slightly tan skin. Lily thought Jess's hair was beautiful but it was nothing compared to her eyes. Lily had never seen anything like it before. The center was a honey brown. Then there was a ring of hazel around it. Followed by a ring of deep gray. They were mesmerizing. Jessie could tell Lily was staring into them s she turned her head to break eye contact.  
  
"Oh, sorry. I'm Lily. I bet you get this a lot, but you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. And you're hair isn't far behind either."  
  
"Thanks. I'll explain about that later but it's really late. Come on, let's go to bed."  
  
Lily smiled and closed all her books. She did need some sleep. She could finish the essay at breakfast. Jess's bed was next to Lily's so they stayed up talking for a little while. Lily fell asleep feeling much happier. 


	7. Year 1 Chapter 6

~****THREE WEEKS LATER****~  
  
Lily woke up early again. It was only five minutes before her alarm was to go off. She got dressed into her robes and grabbed her books. She knew she would have enough time to finish some homework before the girls were ready to go down to breakfast. Lily wasn't meeting Meg anymore. She had gotten an owl from her late in the night:  
  
Lily,  
  
I think it best if we don't have breakfast or tea together. We'll hang out sometime though. Ok?  
  
-Meg  
  
Lily was hurt but decided it might be better off. Meg had avoided her after the first day. Lily thought about how well they had got along before school. But now Meg had different friends in Hufflepuff. She was different. Lily quickly pulled out of these thoughts. She had great friends now. Her and her roommates got along great. They were some of the most popular Gryffindor first years. Jess was popular anywhere since she was so pretty. None of it seemed to go to her head though to Lily's surprise. She had explained to Lily that she was half veela. Lily found her history amazing but Jessie just shrugged it off. School was going well. Lily earned Gryffindor tons of points in every class, and had top marks. She spent nights helping people with their homework. When she got overwhelmed, she would take her diary (her mother sent her one day) and go out to the lake. She found it the most peaceful.  
  
Lily finished up the last sentence of an essay and heard footsteps. She looked up and saw Maggie.  
  
"Morning Lily. Fancy some breakfast?"  
  
"Sure, let's go." Maggie ran up to their dorm to get a book. She needed help in her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. Lily was always willing to help as long as she had food in her stomach. They made their way to the great hall. It was almost empty. Lily saw Meg and waved. She waved back and smiled. At least we're friendly to each other. Lily thought. Soon enough the other three girls of her dormitory got down to breakfast. Jessie of course, filling them in on any gossip she had heard. As Lily laughed, she couldn't help but feel completely at home.  
  
~Skipping ahead~  
  
**October 30**  
  
Lily was running across the field. It was the day of the first Quidditch match; Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. Lily had stayed behind in transfiguration to help McGonagall change the needles back to matches. Lily was the only one to volunteer as everyone left for the rest of the class left for the match. Jack had explained the game of Quidditch and she wasn't fond of it. Jack was interested most in the Beaters and told Lily that she was going to try out next year. Lily found her friends in the stands.*I'm not good at making up sports commentaries so I'm not gonna get into details* The game went on for a couple hours. Gryffindor was only in the lead by ten points so the seekers were looking for the snitch everywhere. The people in the stands were ready to go inside, as it was getting a bit chilly outside. Finally the crowd watched as the Gryffindor seeker flew upward and took a sharp left turn.  
  
"GRYFFINFOR CATCHES THE SNITCH AND WINS! 250-90!"  
  
All the Gryffindors screamed and ran out to the field. Lily grabbed her bag but it was caught. The seam broke.  
  
"Really now! Second time!" and her books fell out all over the bleachers. She fixed her bag with a spell and piled her books in. she hurried down to the field to see her friends. But Lily didn't know she had left her most precious item on the bleachers.  
  
~Gryffindor common room~  
  
Most of the Gryffindors skipped dinner and went straight to the common room, where there was plenty of food for everyone. Lily hurried to her dormitory and threw her book bag on her bed. Her books spilled out but before she picked them up she heard her name being called and ran out of the room.  
  
The party lasted until two when McGonagall finally lost her patience and threatened detentions for everyone. The five girls of Lily's dorm walked to their room laughing and talking about some of the Gryffindor boys. Lily didn't pay much attention to their conversation. She changed into her pajamas and put her books back in her bag, when she realized.  
  
"Oh my god.oh my.OH MY GOD!" Lily's voice got higher as she said these words until she was practically screaming.  
  
"Lily was is it?" asked Jess  
  
"My.my diary! It's gone!" Lily's head was throbbing. She looked all around her bed but found nothing. Then she ran down her dormitory stairs and into the common room. She frantically searched everywhere ignoring stares from the people in the common room. She didn't even notice they were there.  
  
"OH MY GOD!" Lily screamed. The people in the common room, who happened to be James, Sirius, Remus, and the random kid, stared at her as she ran back up to her dorm  
  
"Well that was interesting," Sirius said sarcastically. They all laughed.  
  
"Wasn't that the girl we met on the train?" Remus asked.  
  
"Yeah I think so. She seemed kind of a wreck. I wonder wants going on." James said.  
  
"Well, can't we just get back to the map?" Sirius asked with frustration.  
  
The boys nodded and turned back to some parchment.  
  
~Back in the Girls' dormitory~  
  
"I can't believe I lost it," Lily said into her pillow.  
  
"Lily?" Meg asked  
  
"What?" she snapped  
  
"Never mind."  
  
"Sorry to snap-what did you want to say?"  
  
"Well, I was just wondering-why is it such a big deal? I mean wizard diaries can't be broken into or read by anyone except the owner."  
  
"Well, it's a Muggle diary-anyone could read it."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Exactly. I bet I lost it at the Quidditch match. Geez! Anyone could have picked it up!" Lily sighed deeply before putting her face in her pillow 


	8. Year 1 Chapter 7

**Halloween**  
  
The school was lucky enough to have no school on Halloween, as it fell on a Saturday. Lily wasn't in a very good mood all day. Her roommates and herself had taken the day to walk around the castle and the grounds. Lily lagged behind the majority of the time. She wasn't even planning on going to the feast. But of course, her friends physically made her saying she needed to eat. Lily walked into the Great Hall and was stunned at the decorations. Jess, Maggie, and Lily were the first ones there. They got to their seats. Lily was admiring everything when her eyes fell on an envelope on her plate. Lily opened it and started to read. Her heart stopped, all the color in her face drained and her hands began to shake. She looked around. There was an envelope on every plate. Half the school had now entered the hall. Lily could hear paper ripping as they opened the envelopes. She gulped back tears. Everyone was there now. All Lily heard was laughter and she could feel eyes staring at her. She dropped the letter in her hand and ran as fast as she could out of the hall. Jess picked up the letter that Lily had dropped and read it.  
  
"Oh my god."  
  
Lily,  
  
Well, Mudblood! You got on the wrong side. We will be sure to make you're life (not only at Hogwarts) miserable, humiliating, and all that fun stuff. We have our own instructions. WATCH YOUR BACK  
s.H, D.e, T.R  
  
Jess ran up to the head table and gave the note Dumbledore.  
  
"SILENCE." He yelled. There was nothing kind or gentle in his voice which was able to instantly get the hall quiet. "This feast has been canceled. Prefects lead everyone back to the common rooms. Head boy and girl I would like a word."  
  
Before Dumbledore could say anything else to her, Jess ran back to her seat and opened the letter that was on her plate.  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Hogwarts is great! I've made some great friends (Jess, Mags, Jack, and Emma). Jess, Maggie and I seem to be closer but its always fun hanging out with all of them. Classes are good too. But I can't help feeling like something is missing. Oh well-it's only the start of term. Life is good. I have even met a cute boy named James Potter. He probably doesn't even know I exist. But I am only eleven right? I've got to get some sleep  
Love, Lily  
  
Jess felt embarrassed for Lily. Then she saw an added note at the bottom.  
  
The sad thing is-this was the most embarrassing entry. Lily should go back to the muggles and get a life.  
  
Jess felt her anger rising. She ran out of the hall and straight outside to look for Lily. ~Back to Lily~  
  
Lily was running out the doors. Her vision was blurry from tears. It was now dark outside with no moon. Lily didn't pay attention. She was scared. People hate me for no reason. Lily stopped running as she got a stitch in her side. She looked around. Her eyes were adjusted now. She was in the forest. A shiver ran down her spine. She took a few steps forward. Lily heard a sound and turned around. She felt a hard blow to her head and fell to the ground.  
  
~LILY'S DREAM SEQUENCE~  
  
Lily opened her eyes and saw a blue sky. She leaned forward and looked around. She was in a garden. A very beautiful one at that. Lily stood up and walked forward. She walked towards an archway. It was covered in roses. She stopped underneath it. straight ahead, she could see a giant red rose. It was the most beautiful thing Lily had ever seen. Once she stepped through the archway, the sky turned black. All the beautiful things went dull and seemed to wither up, except that one rose. It was glittering red. Sparks seemed to be coming from it and falling gracefully to the ground. Lily heard movement. She tore her eyes away from the rose and looked to her side. There was a girl, about her age standing there. She had very straight brown hair and bright sky blue eyes.  
  
"It's enchanted. You can touch it if you want, but before you do, I'm giving you this." The girl handed Lily a ring. It was like a vine (silver) but in the middle was a red rose. "I'm warning you. You will see, hear, and experience things that you won't like or understand. Of course you're first time I doubt you'll see much. But with that ring you'll be able to come back. Do not lose it. It's very important. And so are you."  
  
Before Lily could say anything the girl was gone. She looked around the inside of the ring. It was hard to see anything, as it was so dark. There was an inscription along the inside but Lily couldn't read it. She slipped the ring easily on her finger. She brought her eyes back to the rose. It was still glittering. Lily reached her hand out and touched a petal. Instantly, the rose turned black. Lily looked ahead. There was blinding light coming quickly towards her. It wrapped itself around Lily and she felt nothing. Where she was now was completely blurred. Nothing she saw was clear. She heard voices and saw shapes of people. Then the room was green and she felt pain. It was unbearable. She screamed.  
  
She not only screamed in her dream but in reality. It was a blood-curdling scream. Jess heard it and made her way towards the scream. She saw a body on the ground near a massive tree.  
  
"LILY! LILY!" A voice was yelling. Lily opened her eyes and saw a blurred Jess. She tried to say something but passed out. 


	9. Year 1 Chapter 8

"She's been like this for three days!"  
  
"Shh be quiet Mags. We'll wake her."  
  
"I highly doubt that."  
  
"Would you guys just shut up!"  
  
The room fell silent.  
  
"It's almost dinner time. Let's go."  
  
Lily was trying to open her eyes but her body didn't want to let her. Three days? She thought. I have to get up. She could move her fingers and her feet. She tried again to open her eyes and succeeded. She had to blink a few times to adjust to the lighting. Lily looked around her. There were cards all over the table to the side of the bed. At the foot of her bed, she saw some balloons and candy. Lily grinned as Madame Pomfrey walked in.  
  
"I'm glad to see you're finally awake Miss. Evans. Drink this up."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Headache potion. Or rather, a prevention. You got quite a bump on your head. I suggest that you take this a few times a day for a week. Well, I'm going to make you take it."  
  
Lily laughed before drinking the potion. It was bitter and Lily immediately started coughing after she drank it. Making her head start to pound severely.  
  
"Easy there. Take some deep breaths. You will come here to see me before each meal every day for a week. You will take that potion. It may affect you're eating but not too much."  
  
Lily nodded and leaned back in her bed. She felt very tired but Madame Pomfrey forced her to eat some soup and chocolate. Lily, full and extremely tired now, laid her head back and fell into a deep sleep.  
  
"Lily, are you coming to the station?"  
  
"Yes, I'll be right there!" Lily grabbed her heavy cloak and made her way to the common room. It was a week or so before Christmas and all her friends were leaving to go home today. Lily's parents had sent her a letter saying they had to visit her great aunt who was ill, and they wouldn't be able to pick her up in London. So, being the case, Lily signed up to stay at Hogwarts over the break. She was already afraid of getting lonely. She'd be the only one in her dormitory.  
  
"Ready?" Lily asked as she got to the bottom of the stairs.  
  
Her other four roommates smiled and nodded then headed out of the portrait hole. The walk to the entrance hall was silent. They got a carriage for themselves and it started moving by itself. The ride to the station was silent. They stood awkwardly on the platform. Lily thought this was getting silly.  
  
"Oh come on! Group hug!"  
  
They all started laughing and hugged. Lily said goodbye to everyone separately. The four girls boarded the train and shouted things to Lily. Eventually the train started moving and Lily waved until it was out of sight. She turned around and got into a carriage. She felt alone already. Lily starting to twiddle with her ring as she watched things going on outside. She noticed a few snowflakes hitting the ground. I bet Hogwarts will look gorgeous covered in snow. She thought. The carriage came to a stop and Lily stepped out of the carriage. She walked up the steps to the entrance playing with her ring still. Not noticing it was glowing a deep red.  
  
Lily walked through the corridors heading for the portrait hole. She was almost there when something made her glance at her ring. It was glowing brightly. She was startled at first but continued staring into it. She started to feel dizzy. She slowly crunched down to the ground and passed out.  
  
Lily opened her eyes facing the bright blue sky. She knew where she was. Lily stood up and headed for the archway and the big rose on the other side of it. She could see the glow. She passed through the archway and everything went black again. Lily was about to touch it when.  
  
"Nice to see you again." Came a girl's voice. Lily jumped in surprise. The girl giggled. "I never introduced myself. I'm Kerrie. No need to tell me your name. I know your Lily." She smiled.  
  
"How? What are you?" Lily never actually meant to ask the second question but it slipped. She knew Kerrie wasn't just another person. She had very fair skin, the seemed to look white. Her voice was somewhat shaky and her eyes that were blue at her last visit were now red and sad. She was wearing a beautiful green dress with a gray cloak, the hood on her head. Her hair, coming out from under the hood, now seemed much longer than from the last visit and a lighter brown.  
  
After Lily's question Kerrie laughed. "Well, I know who you are because I'm responsible for your family and friends, and bringing you here. You will find out in time what I am. All I can say is that I am now a 'woman of the hills'. But this is not the point of the visit."  
  
"How did you choose me?"  
  
"I have to keep my secrets." Kerrie said firmly but very softly. The entire conversation she was talking barely above a whisper, which Lily thought was odd, but didn't think anything of it. Lily decided to drop that topic, but she didn't really know what else to say.  
  
"If you have nothing else to say, I suggest you touch the rose. It's your only way back. Keep the ring safe." And with that Kerrie disappeared.  
  
Lily had no choice than to go to the rose. Her shaking hand reached to touch a petal and saw the familiar blast of light coming towards her.  
  
Her vision wasn't as blurry. Actually it was clear. She saw a woman that reminded her of Jack except, obviously, older. They were in a park and it was snowing. Lily noticed people in black robes started to surround her. There was no escape, there were too many there. Lily saw a flash of light and Lily felt a surge of pain go throughout her body. It was different from last time. It kept going and didn't stop. The woman screamed. As did Lily.  
  
**REALITY**  
  
"This is scary. Maybe we should bring her to the hospital wing"  
  
"Let's go. We better hurry. She looks like she is in some serious pain."  
  
James, Sirius, and Remus had saw Lily collapse to the ground and they had called her name several times as they approached her. She started screaming and twitching not long after they got there. Sirius, being the most muscular, picked Lily up and went as fast as he could to the hospital wing. Remus and James had run ahead of him to tell Madame Pomfrey what happened.  
  
**BACK TO THE DREAM**  
  
Lily stopped twitching and she watched the limp woman being dragged away. Lily glanced at her ring. It wasn't glowing anymore. It was back to its normal color. Lily fell down to the ground and her herself fall out of consciousness. 


	10. Year 1 Chapter 9

Lily woke up in the hospital wing. She groaned, "I'm here far too often," She whispered.  
  
"I agree." A voice said startling Lily.  
  
"Hello Headmaster. How long have I been here?"  
  
"For about a day. I was wondering if I could speak to you." Lily nodded in agreement. Dumbledore continued, "Now, it was Misters Black, Potter, and Lupin that found you. They said you were twitching and let out quite a scream. Do you have any recollection of what happened?"  
  
Lily sat there for a minute. She really didn't want to explain to Dumbledore about the ring, Kerrie, or the things she saw in her dreams. She shook her head. The look Dumbledore gave her made her feel like he could see right through her but he didn't ask any more questions.  
  
Lily was let out the next day. She got to the common room easily to find it deserted. She went up to her dormitory to find a letter on her bed. She recognized the handwriting as Jess's:  
  
Dear Lily.  
  
Jack asked me to write to you. She was too upset to write herself. Her mother was kidnapped a day or so ago. The last place anyone saw her was entering a park. Jack is taking it very hard. I think it might help if you write her or something. Do keep in touch. I'll write if any more news comes up.  
  
-Jess  
  
Lily couldn't' believe what she was reading. No way. I bet it's just a coincidence. A coincidence that your friend's mother is kidnapped in a park? And the woman in your dream was kidnapped in a park? And this woman just happened to look like Jack? Lily fought with her thoughts before deciding to go to dinner, bringing the letter with her.  
  
Lily sat down and filled her plate with a small amount of food. She re-read the note several times and then started going over her dream. She didn't notice three boys come and sit near her.  
  
"Hey Lily." Remus said  
  
Lily looked up in surprise, "Oh, hi."  
  
"We just wanted to make sure you were okay," James said.  
  
"Yeah. It was kind of scary."  
  
"You have no idea," Lily replied.  
  
"So what exactly happened?" James asked.  
  
Lily hesitated. She didn't know them. She couldn't possible tell them about her dreams. Could she?  
  
"I.don't really want to talk about it."  
  
"That's fine. So you're the only first year girl here huh?" Remus said. He noticed how nervous Lily was getting and tried to change the subject.  
  
"Yeah, I'm starting to miss everyone."  
  
"Well you're welcome to hang around with us." Sirius offered.  
  
"Thanks. But if you'll excuse me I have to send a letter." Lily pushed her untouched food away and walked out of the hall.  
  
James, who was sitting next to her, noticed a piece of paper where Lily had been sitting. James unfolded it and read.  
  
"Wow guys. Listen to this."  
  
James read it to them and they didn't know what to say.  
  
"When we see Lily we should probably give this back. It's serious."  
  
"No I am!" Sirius joked.  
  
"That was lame." Remus commented earning him a slap on the shoulder.  
  
Lily had no intention of sending a letter. True, she wanted to send one to Jack but she didn't know what to say. She walked to the portrait hole and gave the password (hippogriff) and went to an armchair by the fire. She sat there in silence for a while until she heard some loud laughter in the direction of the portrait hole. Lily didn't want to talk to anyone so she tried to sneak up to the staircase but was too late.  
  
"Hey Lily!"  
  
She turned around to see James coming towards her. "You left this in the Great Hall." He handed her the letter.  
  
"Thanks." She replied ready to go up to her dorm but a shout across the room made her stop again.  
  
"Lily! How about a game of chess?" Sirius was calling to her.  
  
She sighed and headed over to the table. Lily beat Sirius three times before she said someone else should have a go. She ended up talking to Remus as James and Sirius played.  
  
"Remus, I've noticed that you aren't around for a day or so every now and then. Where were you?" Lily asked.  
  
Remus looked very uncomfortable after she asked that and Lily could tell. She tried to cover it, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to nose into something that's none of my business."  
  
Remus smiled, "It's okay. I'd rather not talk about it though." Lily nodded her head in understanding.  
  
"That's a pretty ring. Where did you get it?" Remus asked.  
  
It was Lily's turn to become fidgety. "I.er.got it from a friend. I think I'm going to go to bed. Night Remus. Goodnight James, Sirius." And with that Lily quickly went to her dorm.  
  
"What did you say to her?" James asked  
  
"Nothing. All I asked her about was a ring she was wearing." Remus said.  
  
"Well maybe she was tired." James suggested.  
  
"Yeah sure. Come on guys! You saw the look on her face. She looked terrified." Sirius said. They went silent after that. They were each trying to come up with a rational reason why Lily had just left them there.  
  
Christmas came and went. Lily spent most of her time writing in her new diary. Mags had given it to her for Christmas except it was a wizard diary. Lily was fascinated how the words disappeared after she wrote them. Occasionally, Lily would play games with the boys and sat with them during meals. But Lily was very happy once her friends returned from home. 


	11. Year 1 Chapter 10

"Lily Evans! If you don't get out of bed right now you will be expelled from Hogwarts and never do magic again. Not to mention the fact you would fail the year."  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
Jack laughed, "I had to say something drastic. Breakfast is in five minutes and I know that you don't want to be late for our first exam. So up and get dressed!"  
  
Lily groaned and slid out of bed before actually comprehending what Jack said. "Oh my gosh! Exams!" Lily got dressed quickly and ran down to the common room. Jess and Jack were waiting for her.  
  
"It's about time! I'm starved! And you still have to quiz me on the potion ingredients for a forgetfulness potion," Jess said.  
  
"Walk and talk!" Lily yelled heading straight for the portrait hole.  
  
Jack and Jess jogged to catch up with her. Lily quizzed them on the ingredients they needed to know and then helped herself to some breakfast. She waved to Remus who was trying to tell Peter something about potions that Peter just couldn't get. Lily was finally introduced to the "random kid that walks behind them" when he returned from Christmas break.  
  
Lily looked around and saw Meg, she waved and yelled, "Good luck on your exams Meg!"  
  
"Thanks! You too Lily!"  
  
Lily smiled and started talking to Emma and Mags.  
  
The Potions final (as you have probably guessed was there first exam) went very well for Lily. As did all of her exams. After her last exam, astronomy, Lily felt relieved ad was looking forward to her last week of Hogwarts as a first year.  
  
All of the younger students were a bit depressed. There was an end of the year ball but is for fourth years and up. The morning of the ball, Lily saw Sirius and James climb up onto a table in the common room. She then heard Sirius's voice boom over the room.  
  
"Attention underclassmen and anyone who is not attending the ball tonight! Do not despair about missing out. For here in Gryffindor common room at seven o'clock we will be holding a party. All Gryffindors are welcome!" Sirius finished and there was a loud applause. Sirius bowed and approached Lily.  
  
"And will Miss. Evans be joining us tonight?"  
  
"I could not possibly miss the party of the year."  
  
Sirius now came right up to Lily's ear, "Good because a certain Remus wishes to speak with you of something he won't tell us."  
  
Lily gave Sirius a confused and surprised look, "Okay then." 


	12. Year 1 Chapter 11

**THAT NIGHT**  
  
Lily, Jess and Maggie were dancing in the middle of the common room. They had gotten basically the entire room's attention, as they were very good dancers. Soon enough a couple of fourth year boys, who had returned from the ball, came up to them and tried to dance. But the girls were too crazy and blew them off. The music finally got to a slow song and Lily decided to get a drink.  
  
"Hey Lily!" Remus came up from behind her.  
  
"Oh! Hey Remus! How's it going?" by the look on Remus's face he was not good. "What's wrong Remus?"  
  
"I need to tell you something, come here." Remus said pulling Lily into a corner.  
  
"Lily I really am trusting you here. I haven't even told James or Sirius this. But I really need someone's help and I'm afraid to tell them."  
  
Lily was getting a little nervous now. What possibly could he trust with Lily more than James or Sirius?  
  
"There's no way for me to say this easily. I'm a.a.a werewolf." He said barely over a whisper.  
  
Lily's eyes widened, "Is this some sort of a joke Remus? Werewolves aren't something to goof around about!" Lily felt anger that he would try and trick her but she noticed his eyes. They were pleading. "Oh my gosh. You're serious."  
  
Remus nodded and led Lily to a chair. "I bet you're wondering right now why I'm telling you this huh?"  
  
Lily nodded her head and Remus continued. "Lily you are the smartest in the grade and I knew that you're figure it out sooner or later. When you asked me about not being around during Christmas break I thought you had figured it out. Anyways, I need your help. James and Sirius are starting to get curious. I'm running out of excuses and stories. I need you to help me with some alibis and.some research."  
  
Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't think about what she was getting into. She smiled and nodded. Remus now very relieved let out a heavy sigh and fell to the floor.  
  
"Thank you." He said.  
  
Lily returned to the party and dancing afterwards. She earned some weird looks from James and Sirius. Lily became rather tired at about one thirty and headed up to bed; replaying what Remus had told her in her head.  
  
Lily woke up late the next morning. Dumbledore had announced that they were exempt from wearing their school robes until the second to last day of school. Lily grabbed her bag, some parchment, and a quill then leaded down to the Great Hall for brunch. After eating Lily went straight to the library. If she was going to help Remus she wanted to know everything she could about werewolves. She was surprised that Remus trusted her with this. They had become very good friends since Christmas and Lily knew how tight the three boys were yet he told Lily about being a werewolf over them.  
  
Not long after Lily started reading about them did she become absolutely fascinated. Every now and then Lily would take a couple notes but she mostly read. She skipped dinner and was kicked out of the library at nine. Lily checked out a couple of books and then made her way to the common room.  
  
"Lily! Where have you been all day?" Jess asked running up to her.  
  
"The library."  
  
"The library?! Lily exams are over. Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I just wanted to use some of the library books to write an essay. You know-one of our summer assignments." Lily made her way to an armchair in a corner. She focused on the book and nothing else. Several times people tried to talk to her but got no response. It was about midnight when Lily started to get sleepy. The words were becoming blurry and Lily was finding it hard to concentrate.  
  
"Lily?"  
  
Lily stirred and looked in front of her. Remus took the book away from her hands and read a little on the page.  
  
"Wow. I didn't think you'd start right away." He laughed.  
  
Lily chuckled, "Just wanted to know some stuff about what happens."  
  
"Lily no book could ever tell you what happens. Only a werewolf. But I'm rather skittish about the topic still. You should go to bed. And do me a favor, don't worry about any of this until school gets out."  
  
Lily smiled and got up from her chair. She surprised Remus by giving her a hug. She whispered in his ear, "I already have an idea." She let go of him and smiled evilly. He looked at her with interest as she walked up the stairs to her dormitory. They didn't know it, but at the exact same time they thought to themselves, "What did I get myself into?" 


	13. Author's Note

That's the end of Lily's first year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  
Some Author's Notes:  
  
I did not put a disclaimer on every chapter, but all this is copyrighted to J.K. Rowling and I give her full credit for all her characters and ideas. I do take credit for the characters I made up myself; most are based on people I know. I'm still writing Lily's second year at Hogwarts, and will soon be setting up chapters on fanfiction.net  
  
*Summary for Lily, James, and the OLD Gang (Year 2)  
  
After a year of surprising events, Lily enjoys her summer. She returns to Hogwarts that September, not knowing the horrible proceedings that are ready to occur.*  
  
I hope you all enjoyed the first year. Please submit your reviews!  
  
This is the link to my original site where I post news, updates, pictures:  
  
This is the link to my story on the harrypotter.com message boards:  
  
7&board=Book&so=a 


	14. Year 2 Chapter 1

YEAR TWO

Lily woke up with a start. She had just had a nightmare. She was drowning in the lake at Hogwarts. She wasn't the only one thought. Emma was also drowning. Someone saved Lily but not Emma. Lily watched Emma drown and sink to the bottom. It scared Lily a lot. She got up from her bed and went to the bathroom to get a glass of water.

Lily had been home for a couple of weeks. She missed school already and had finished all of her summer work. Most of the time she was looking up as much information as possible about werewolves. She had tried to get information on her idea, but as it was very advanced, she needed a wizard library.

Lily walked back to her room. She glanced at the clock. It was past three on her birthday. She smiled and went into a dreamless sleep.

"Lillllllllyyyyy…" a voice said, "Lillllllyyyyyy Evaaaaaaaansssssss…" Lily was coming out of her sleep. The voice was familiar.

"LILY! Wake up!" the voice shouted.

Lily quickly leaned up. Her eyes got all fuzzy from getting up too fast. But when she focused she saw the person sitting on the bed and now realized why the voice was so familiar.

"JESS! What are you doing here!?"

"Happy Birthday!! You're parents invited us to spend the day…and night…a sleepover I guess!" she laughed.

Lily laughed before, " Us? Who else is here?"

At the moment Emma, Jack, and Mags came into Lily's room yelling "Happy Birthday!"

Lily giggled and climbed out of bed. She gave all of her friends a hug and went to get changed in the bathroom as her friends nosed through all her things in her room.

"Hey Lily! You've got a couple owls!" Mags shouted from her room. Lily quickly brushed her hair and braided it.

"Took you long enough! Open these, come on!"

Lily went over to the two parcels that the owls had placed on her bed. She took a red envelope from it and opened it. Before anyone realized what it was it let out a very loud, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!" there was a ringing in the air now that it was silent. Lily started laughing setting off the other three girls. Lily now took up a piece of parchment that was underneath the red envelope.

_Hey Lily!_

_We just wanted to say happy birthday really loud so it was like we were there. Enjoy your present!_

_                                                James and Sirius_

Lily smiled and picked up the package. The big lumpy bag started moving. Lily screamed and dropped it. She hadn't noticed until then that there were little holes all over it. She picked the parcel up again and unwrapped it.

She gasped. A little black kitten rolled out. All the girls 'Ooed' and 'Ahhed'. Lily picked it up and saw that it's eyes were exactly like her own.

"Bastet."

"What?"

"That's its name-Bastet."

"Lily, no offense, but where did you come up with that?"

"I read it in a book. It was a goddess said to have the head of a cat."

"History freak."

"O shush up Emma. It's my cat." Lily put Bastet in her lap and picked up the next parcel. She opened the note.

_Happy Birthday Lily!_

_I know you've been wondering about what really goes on. So I'm giving you my journal. It only talks about "it" and I knew how much you wanted to know. Plus I got you a little something to help you research._

_                                                            -Remus_

Lily was in shock. He had given her his journal about being a werewolf. She opened the book and a card fell out. "Member of the Diagon Alley Library". It was like Remus had read her mind. At that moment all Lily wanted to do was go to the library. Her cat seemed to have given her inspiration and she knew it would take a long time to accomplish.

For the rest of the day, the girls hung out. They were outside most of the time as Lily had a pool and a large backyard. Mid-afternoon, Lily's mom took Lily and her friends to the pet store to get some things for Bastet.

The girls ate dinner at Lily's favorite restaurant then set up where they would be sleeping. They stayed up late into the night or rather very early in the morning. They awoke to the smell of a wonderful breakfast. They got dressed and Lily took them to her favorite spot in the yard, the willow tree. They lay under the tree until lunch. They were quiet going back to the house because the girls knew they'd be leaving. The five girls said their goodbyes by a group hug. They were going to make arrangements to meet up in Diagon Alley.

Once everyone was gone (they traveled by floo powder) Lily cleaned up the house. She went to her room grabbed the journal and Bastet. She went through the kitchen and out to the yard; heading for the weeping willow.

By the time Lily was called in for dinner, Lily's eyes were red and puffy from crying. Remus's diary deeply disturbed her to the point where she couldn't read anymore. It was so deep that she couldn't possibly understand how much pain he goes through.

She walked into the dining room with her cat and book. Her mother looked at her and got a worried expression.

"Are you okay Lily?"

"Yeah I'm fine. What's for dinner?" Lily asked quietly. That's all she said until she excused herself from dinner. She went up to her room and decided to write to Remus. She was ready to put her plan into action.

_Remus,_

_I started reading your journal. By page ten I was in tears. I want to talk to you in person. I'm going against all of my gut feelings by coming up with this plan. I'm sure you will hate it but I will not back down. I will need your help though. You have to meet me in Diagon Alley on Saturday. Write back ASAP._

_                                                            -Lily_

Lily called Zowie to her window and tied the letter to her leg. She watched it fly off into the darkness then crawled into bed. She had a restless sleep.

Lily gave up on sleep at five and decided to go running. It helped her last time she was confused or felt something missing. Lily snuck outside and walked down her long driveway. Once she reached the road she jogged. She only did two laps and was slower this morning. Too much was weighing her down and she couldn't let go. She returned to her street and made her way up her driveway. It was starting to get lighter. Lily glanced at her house. She did a double take. Zowie was perched on the window of her room. Lily quickly entered the house and tore up the stairs to her room. She shut the door and ran to the window. Her hands were shaking as she tried to untie the letter, making her slower and Zowie annoyed.

"Sorry," Lily muttered and handed her a treat. She unfolded the letter and read.

_Lily,_

_What on earth are you brewing in that head of yours? If it's too dangerous I won't have it. I don't want you getting yourself into trouble._

_I can meet you Saturday in Diagon Alley. How about in front of Gringotts at one? Just send an owl with your answer._

_                                                -Remus_

Lily found some paper and scribbled, "Perfect" and sent Zowie out again. She grabbed Remus's journal and continued reading about his experiences getting more eager every page to start her project.


	15. Year 2 Chapter 2

**~~Saturday~~**

Lily walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Her parents were going to meet her in a café in London when Lily had finished her shopping. Lily made her way to the back and to the brick wall. She tapped the bricks and the doorway formed. She quickly made her way towards Gringotts. She didn't see Remus anywhere. Lily was fifteen minutes early so she decided to go to her vault and Remus would probably be there by the time she got back.

**~~Twenty Minutes Later~~**

Lily stepped out the doors of Gringotts. She was dizzy and needed to grip the building. She started looking around for Remus. It was only five minutes after the time they were supposed to meet at. She didn't see him anywhere so she sat down on a nearby bench. Lily waited…and waited…and waited. It now had been over an hour and Remus was a no show. A now very angry Lily walked away from Gringotts and headed to the Leaky Cauldron. She forgot all the shopping she had to do. She didn't stop in the Leaky Cauldron but went straight to the streets of London looking for her parents to go home.

**~~In the Leaky Cauldron~~**

"I think that was Lily who just ran by." James Potter said as he took a sip from his butterbeer.

"Yeah it was. She looked pretty mad." Sirius said.

"She did. I wouldn't want to be in her way" Remus said. He took a sip of his drink and sat there for a minute before…

"Oh my god. She is going to kill me!" Remus yelled.

James and Sirius stared at him puzzled by what he said.

"I was suppose to meet Lily at one in front of Gringotts. I'm so dead."

James and Sirius kept staring at Remus.

"Er-Remus-why would you be meeting Lily?" James asked.

Remus got a little nervous. "She just has to talk to me about something. I have to go send an owl. I'll see you guys later." Remus headed to the back and into Diagon Alley.

James and Sirius shrugged and started talking about Quidditch.


	16. Year 2 Chapter 3

**~~One Week Before School~~**

Lily let out a frustrated grunt. She was trying to lock her very full trunk. She was leaving for Diagon Alley in an hour. Her mom had allowed her to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for her last week of vacation. Jess and Mags were going to be staying as well. She finally clicked the lock down and dragged her trunk down the stairs, well pushed it down. She went into the kitchen to get a drink when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Lily! You can't avoid me forever. You promised me th-"

Lily hung up the phone and sighed. She hadn't spoken to Remus since what happened at Diagon Alley. He had sent her numerous letters and now Lily supposed she had found her number and tried using a muggle phone. She still wanted to help him but now he needed to prove to her he still wanted her to and that he deserved it after ditching her.She poured herself a glass of lemonade and then went to get her mother to leave.

**~~After a Long Car Ride~~**

Lily stepped into the Leaky Cauldron dragging her trunk behind her. She greeted the Tom (a younger one) and he handed her a key to room five. He magiced (word??) Lily's trunk to her room and she headed upstairs.

Lily started feeling really tired. She walked up the stairs to her door and unlocked it. Her legs felt like they were about to buckle under. She got to her bed and passed out. She hadn't noticed her ring glowing. After the last time she passed out because of it she turned the ring so the rose was on the inside of her hand to avoid looking into it.

Lily woke up to a pounding on her door. She could hear frantic voices. She climbed out of bed feeling a little lightheaded. Slowly, she crossed the room and opened the door.

"Can you guys lower your voices please? I have a headache." Lily said quietly.

Jess, Mags, Remus, Sirius, and James were standing outside her door.

"Lily! Oh my gosh! We were knocking on your door for almost an hour! What the heck were you doing?" Jess exclaimed.

"Jess calm down. I was sleeping."

"What? Sleeping? Come on Lily you can't be serious."

"Yes Maggie I am. Now if you'll excuse me I'm not feeling well." Lily said in a whisper than slowly shut the door.

The five people stared at the door that had just been shut in their face.

"There is definitely something going on that she's not telling us." Jess said.

The other four nodded and headed towards their rooms. Except Remus. He knocked lightly on Lily's door. No answer. He opened the door. Lily was sitting on her window seat looking out over Diagon Alley. He knew she had heard him when he closed the door. He stood there waiting for her to say something. Finally she did.

"I need help Remus."

"How did you know it was me?"

"You'd be there only one who could tell I was lying." She simply said.

He smiled and crossed the room. He sat down across from her. His facial expression changed.

"What's going on Lily?"

Lily still hadn't looked at Remus. She then turned and looked him directly in the eye.

"Where were you that Saturday?"

"Lily I'm really sorry about that. I went with James and Sirius. I just lost track of time. I totally freaked when I saw you storm out of the Leaky Cauldron. You can ask them."

Lily smiled at this and turned back to looking out the window.

"What are you hiding Lily?"

She looked at him. "This secret is mine to keep."

Remus looked at her. She was looking terrified at the palm of her hand. It was the ring he had asked her about last Christmas. He watched her put the ring on making sure she couldn't see the rose. She looked at Remus and saw he was staring at her.

"Let's find everyone and get some dinner." She said as she stood up. Remus followed her out of her room. He went to get James and Sirius as Lily went to get Jess and Mags.

The next day they went to get their school supplies. Lily had fun and met up with some people she knew like Emma and Meg. When she saw Emma, Lily asked if she had seen Jacks since her party but Emma said she hadn't. No one had seen or talked to Jack. Lily started to worry and told the others she was going back to the Leaky Cauldron to send a letter to Jack. When Lily got to her room she saw an envelope on her dresser. She looked around the room and saw Zowie perched on the window. She opened the envelope and had to grip the bedpost to keep balance. She was reading an article from the Daily Prophet.

**_WITCH FOUND DEAD_**

_Cathy Stone was found dead in Cherry Park last weekend. Cathy, wife of David Stone and mother to daughter Jacqueline, had been missing since last Christmas. Cherry Park, only a few blocks from the Stone residence, had been searched but apparently not well enough. Two kids found the body in a cave. When ministry officials got to the scene they found Dark Mark symbols throughout the cave. Mediwizards have announced she was killed with the Unforgivable Killing Curse. There was a preserving charm on the body suggesting Mrs. Stone was killed quite a while ago. The Daily Prophet sends its condolences to her family._

Lily blinked back tears. She took another piece of paper out of the envelope and recognized Jack's handwriting.

_Lily,_

_I thought I would send you the news since you can stay strong. I can't even write this letter. I don't know when I'll be coming to school._

_Keep in touch,_

_-Jacqueline_

Lily didn't know what to do. Jack expected her to stay strong. This was the most tragic thing Lily had ever heard. She sunk to the floor and let a few tears escape. There was a knock on the door, which Lily ignored, but whipped away her tears. She was just staring at the article. She heard the door open and looked up. James was standing in the doorway looking around for Lily then spotted her on the floor.

"You okay Lil?"

She looked up at him. No one ever called her Lil, but she liked it. She snapped out of the thought and shook her head at him muttering "No."

James crossed over to her and sat down.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Lily just stared at the article. James taking the hint leaned over and started to read. His expression changed to shock.

"Oh my god…"

"James please go get everyone and bring them in here." Lily said very shakily.

James left the room quietly. Ten minutes later he returned with everyone and a very angry Sirius.

"James what the hell is your problem? I was bu-"

"Shut up Sirius." Lily said quietly.

Sirius continued. "SHUT UP SIRIUS." Lily yelled.

Sirius stopped talking and stared at Lily. He was surprised. Lily never was that hostile to anyone.

Lily breathed deeply. She had to do this for Jack. 

"I got a letter from Jack today. She-um-sent me this article and a note." Lily's voice was quivering. Her hand was shaking hard as she read the article to them. She finished the article and picked up the note and read it. When she finished she fell to the floor and Sirius came up to her. He gave her a big hug.

"I'm sorry for being a prat. I didn't realize-"

Lily just shook her head and hugged him back. After they hugged Lily went to everyone else and gave them a hug. Remus gave her an extra squeeze, knowing that this was hard for Lily to do. Soon everyone left Lily's room to go to their own. As soon as they were gone Lily lay down on her bed and cried. She could only act for so long.


	17. Year 2 Chapter 4

**~~September 1st~~**

Lily, Maggie, and Jess sat in a compartment in silence. The night before they had gone to Mrs. Stone's funeral. It was the hardest thing Lily ever had to do. They all had tried to comfort Jack as much as they could but she never said a word to them except that she would be at Hogwarts the second week of school.

Remus stopped in to the compartment.

"Lily, could I talk to you for a minute?"

Lily nodded and went with Remus to a separate compartment.

"Lily, my transformation is tonight."

Lily snapped her head from the window to Remus. He continued, "I need an excuse to miss the feast and to be gone all night."

Lily thought for a moment and got a simple plan, "Okay. When we get out of the carriages say you aren't feeling well and are feeling kind of…dizzy or like you are going to be sick or something. I'll come over, play dumb, and bring you to the hospital wing. All I have to say is Madame Pomfrey wanted you to stay the night."

Remus smiled, "That's perfect. Thanks Lily."

Lily nodded and turned to leave but Remus grabbed her wrist.

"Lily you never told me your plan."

Lily stared at Remus, "Not here."

"Why not?"

"Because our best friends are outside the door trying to listen to our conversation."

Remus got an angry expression that gave Lily the creeps. He was never angry. He slammed open the door. Sure enough, everyone was standing there. He stared down James and Sirius then walked out of the room. Lily followed him but someone had her arm and pulled her into a compartment.

"James! Let me go!" Lily tried pulling free but he was surprisingly strong for a twelve year old.

"James, let her go. Lily sit." Sirius pushed Lily down onto a seat.

"What's going on with you and Remus?" Sirius asked calmly.

"Nothing is going on." Lily said plainly causing Sirius to sigh.

"Fine then. You give us no choice. James, the potion please."

James slowly walked over to Sirius and pulled a bottle out from his robes.

"What is that?" Lily asked shakily.

"That would be a truth potion." James said.

"You can't give me that!" Lily yelled.

"Yes we can and we are going to. We need to know what is going on. It's something big but he refuses to tell us." Sirius said.

"You guys, this isn't my secret to tell." Lily pleaded.

"I'm sorry Lily we need to know."

James held her down and before Sirius was able to force the potion down, Lily yelled at the top of her lungs, "REMUS!"

Lily choked on the potion. She sat there until Sirius started asking questions.

"What are you doing with Remus?"

"I'm helping him."

"Why does he need help?"

"Because he's a-"

"LILY!" Everyone snapped their heads to the door. Remus was standing there panting.

"What did you do to her?" Remus asked very angrily.

"Lily-why are you helping Remus?" Sirius asked again ignoring Remus.

"Because he's a w-"

"Lily! Come here!" Remus went over and snatched the bottle out of Sirius's head.

"I cannot believe you two." Remus said disappointed.

"Woah. What is going on?" Lily asked grabbing her head. No one said anything. Lily sat there for a couple minutes trying to think when it dawned on her.

"Oh my god…I am going to kill you guys!"

Lily lunged onto Sirius and slapped him **_hard_** on his cheek. She hit him again **_hard_** on the other cheek and got off of him. She moved onto James doing the same thing.

"You two deserve worse bit I don't want to be in your presence as you are both selfish and _obviously no friend of mine_." Lily said this in a scary calm voice and then walked out of the compartment. Remus shook his head at them and walked out.

"Maybe there was a better way to go about this." Sirius said.

"You're a quick one Sirius." James said with a bit of annoyance.

"Shut up." Nothing else was said.

**~~In the Common Room later that Night~~**

Lily looked out the window and watched Remus being escorted to the Whomping willow. Her plan worked perfectly and everyone thought Remus was in the hospital wing. Lily had been waiting at the window to see him go. Once Remus was out of site Lily went up to her dorm and pulled out her books. She wanted to be an animagus by the end of the year.


	18. Quick Note!

Quick note!  
  
I messed around with saving options, and I figured out how to save it so italics and bolds appeared for the most part. I tried to redo the spacing too so it wasn't so much. I know these chapters are kind of short but just bare with me!  
  
And I'm sorry about the links not working, I'm not sure what the deal with that is. 


	19. Year 2 Chapter 5

Lily's first week of classes was weird. She isolated herself from everyone, except Remus. But whenever she talked to him it was about her becoming an animagus. After his transformation Lily had told him what her plan was. Remus was totally against it but Lily had her mind set. She spent her time in the library or in the corner of the common room researching and writing down ingredients she needed. She already had a plan on how to get them. She was going to write home and send them a wizard magazine so her mom could order them and send them to Lily. She knew she was taking advantage of her muggle history, as her mother was totally clueless about the ingredients, but they were very important.

Lily was even ignoring her roommates. They just thought she was upset about Jack and her family and needed some time…

**~~3 Months into School~~**

Lily hadn't improved any. In fact, she had gotten worse. She wasn't talking to anyone. She never raised her hand in any classes, except occasionally in transfiguration. She wasn't eating mush, causing her to get sickly thin. She often found herself tired but her research was paying off. She was accomplishing a lot. Her friends were starting to get worried. Jack was back now. She had tried numerous times to get Lily outside or anything. She wouldn't go to any Quidditch matches, which Jack, Sirius and James all made the house team. Even Meg had approached her. Lily ignored them all. She would regret it soon…

Lily had actually decided to go to breakfast one morning. Not really to eat, she was expecting her mother's package. She had found all the ingredients she needed and was ready to start making the potion. She sat down at the end of the table, away from everyone, and waited for the mail. She didn't have to wait long. She saw Zowie heading for her with a large parcel. She gave Zowie her toast, took the package, and left the hall. She went to her dormitory and put the package in her trunk. She grabbed her bag and headed to class.

As Lily headed towards her classroom she started to get dizzy. She stopped walking and started swaying on the spot. She fell backwards, someone catching her as she to the ground.

*

" I knew we should have brought her here sooner."

"Jess she wasn't talking to any of us. We tried so many times. She just shut us all out."

"I know Jack, but why? This isn't the Lily I saw a week before school."

Lily just listened to them talk, afraid to speak. She realized what she had been doing to herself and how unhealthy she must be. She felt a warm hand grab her own.

"I know you're awake." They whispered.

Lily tried to speak but nothing came from her throat. She ended up going into a coughing fit. It subsided and she looked around. Jack, Jess, and Maggie were sitting on the bed nest to Lily, staring at her. Remus was on the other side holding her hand. James and Sirius were sitting on a bed behind him. Lily turned back to the girls.

"I'm so sorry." She croaked out. Her voice was very scratchy. The girls all came over and gave her a big hug.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You really should rest though, your body needs it."

Lily lay back down and started drifting back to sleep. She felt Remus let go of her hand and people leaving. Before she was gone there was a whisper in her ear,

"You scared me Lil," and then Lily fell back into a deep sleep.


	20. Year 2 Chapter 6

**~~First Day of Christmas Break~~**

Lily was back to her healthy self. She was back to being the top student. She still was obsessing about becoming an animagus but she allowed Remus to help her so it wasn't as stressful. She forced herself to eat every meal even if she wasn't that hungry. She never wanted to be like that again. She spent a lot of time hanging out with her roommates. She had forgiven James and Sirius so she spent time with them as well. They all decided to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas break, except Emma whose parents wouldn't let her.

They soon found out they were the only Gryffindors staying and were grateful. They turned the common room into a giant bedroom/ party room. That was all they did the first night of break. They listened to music on a wizard radio and played all sorts of games. They set up sleeping bags around the biggest fireplace and talked late into the night. It was the happiest Lily had been in so long. She didn't know how much things were going to change.

The days before Christmas were a lot of fun. They went out in the snow and had snowball fights. They went ice-skating on the lake. James, Sirius, and Remus surprised the girls with hot chocolate and materials for smores. They used the fireplaces to cook the marshmallows and ended up throwing them at each other rather than eating them, making quite a mess.

**~~Christmas Eve~~**

The group was excitedly talking in the common room. It was almost midnight.

"Guys, can we go to bed. It's almost Christmas but I actually want to get some sleep" Lily said as she yawned.

Everyone agreed and lay down to sleep. Lily instantly drifted off, not feeling the ring burn on her finger.

**~~Christmas Day~~**

Lily was awoken by a pillow being smashed into her face. She opened her eyes and saw Jess running away, Lily got up and grabbed her pillow then raced after her.

Soon enough everyone was awake and joining in on the pillow fight. A good 30 minutes later they collapsed on the floor.

"Happy Christmas everyone."

"Happy Christmas." They said in unison.

"Who's ready for presents?" Sirius asked.

Everyone ran over to their sleeping bags. They all had a pile of presents at the end of it. Lily was the slowest one. She wasn't feeling well so she slowly sat down and started opening the gifts.

Her parents had sent her some clothes.  James and Sirius gave her a large selection of sweets.  Remus gave her a small black book.  It gave her a small black book. It had no title but when Lily opened it she recognized it as instructions for animagus. She smiled gratefully and hid the book in her pillowcase. Mags gave her a new diary. They decided to make it tradition so Lily got her one too. The one she received was a beautiful emerald leather. Jess had given her a book of magical creatures. She had noticed Lily doing all sorts of reading on different animals and thought she might like it. Jack gave her a beautiful golden quill that was rather large but was charmed to write in calligraphy. After finishing her pile Lily realized something.

"Hey-did you guys get anything from Emma?" She asked.

Everyone shook their head. Lily got a chill up her spine. She was feeling dizzy again. Her finger was burning. Before she realized what she was doing, she turned the ring and looked directly into the rose. She passed out.

"Oh my god! Lily!"

**Dream**

_Lily didn't want to open her eyes. She knew where she was. She knew she would end up being in pain and watching someone die. Lily sighed and opened her eyes. She gasped. Her eyes shot around her quickly. Everything was different. The sky was no longer blue but a stormy gray. Lily thought she heard thunder rolling. The grass wasn't soft and green anymore. It was brown and snapped when Lily put her hand through it. The beautiful flowers were wilted and dead petals littered the ground. Lily looked towards the archway. She couldn't see he center rose. Lily got up and ran through the archway. The sky didn't go black.  Everything stayed the same. Lily looked forward and saw the rose faintly glowing. Petals were on the ground. Lily didn't understand what had happened. Why was everything so glum? She started to yell._

_"Kerrie! Kerrie where are you?"_

_ A few minutes later Kerrie came running into the clearing._

_ "Oh Lily! Thank goodness you're here. Where have you been? You haven't come in ages. This is all your fault."_

_ Lily was completely puzzled now. What was her fault?_

_ "Kerrie what is going on?"_

_ "The rose is dying."_

_ "That's my fault?"_

_ "Well…no…but I need your help."_

_ Lily, still confused, allowed herself to be led to a bench. Kerrie walked away for a minute and returned with a glass case._

_ "Lily, take this case. It has the only good petal left in the garden. You must plant the center strip of the rose and take very good care of it. Take the other two halves of the petal after you have done that and bring it back to me. Hurry we don't have much time."_

_ Lily felt her hand lightly touching the petal and the white light came streaming towards her._

_ Lily was now sitting on a chair in someone's house. She heard voices and went towards them._

_ "What do you want?" an all too familiar voice said. Lily knew who it was. She knew what was about to happen._

_"I want your friends." A cold voice said. Without another word the man raised his wand and a shot of green light came from it._

_ Lily screamed out, "EMMA!"_

_ Everything went into slow motion for about three seconds. In that time, Emma looked directly at Lily and mouthed her name. Then everything shot forward again. Lily felt severe pain and was brought back to reality. This time, remaining conscience._

"Lily are you okay?"

Lily's eyes couldn't get focused. Her head was going around in circles (not literally). She knew she was going to be sick. She ran to the nearest bathroom and slammed the door. Everyone chased after her. From their side of the door they could hear gagging. Lily came out a few minutes later and pushed through her friends.

"Lily where are you going?" Jack asked.

Lily didn't answer but went straight out of the portrait hole. 

"You guys stay here. I'll follow her." Remus said and ran out of the portrait hole chasing Lily.

"Lily wait up!"

Lily stopped not to wait for Remus, but because she was feeling nauseous again. All she could think of was watching Emma die. It sent a shiver down her spine. Remus caught up with her and faced her. He was shocked. Lily's eyes were red. Not just from crying, as he noticed her tear-streaked face, but around her emerald color was a ring of bright red. It was downright scary.

"Lily what's going on?

"I have to find Dumbledore." She whispered. It seemed her voice was caught in her throat.

"I'll take you there." Remus grabbed Lily's wrist and brought her to a gargoyle. He muttered something Lily couldn't hear and the gargoyle jumped aside. Lily was led onto a moving staircase. In short time they arrived at a door. Lily just stood there so Remus knocked.

"Come in."

Remus pushed Lily inside then walked in and closed the door.

"Ah Ms. Evans, Mr. Lupin. What can I do for you?"

Lily took her gaze off of Dumbledore and stared at her feet staying silent.

"Er-Lily passed out in the common room. She woke up about ten minutes later and ran to the bathroom and got sick. Then she said she had to talk to you." Remus said.

"Well thank you Remus for a summary but I think it is Lily who should do the talking."

Lily looked up from her feet and sighed. She pulled out a case from her pajama pocket, "There's a lot to tell professor."

"Proceed then."

Lily started with the first dream she had and meeting Kerrie. She showed Dumbledore the ring. She told him about the rose. She told him how she had seen Jack's mother being killed. Lily was starting to feel relieved that she had finally been able to tell someone. She moved on to how the ring had taken all the energy out of her at the Leaky Cauldron from ignoring going to the garden. Then she got to the most recent dream. She hesitated.


	21. Year 2 Chapter 7

"Go on Miss. Evans." Dumbledore said gently.

Lily took a very deep breath. Remus was watching her intently. He was taking this all in wondering how she's dealt with it all.

Lily went into great detail about what had happened. She showed Dumbledore the petal and asked if she should plant it.

"When you have finished Lily. Continue please."

Lily finished Kerrie's instructions. She hesitated again not wanting to continue. She pulled herself together and told Dumbledore what happened. She lost control in the middle and couldn't stop crying.

"Miss. Evans, I know this is hard but I must know who was attacked to see if everything is okay."

Lily kept crying.

"Lily, please, he needs to know." Remus persuaded.

"Emma." Lily whispered and burst into a fresh wave of tears.

Remus went pale. Dumbledore stood up.

"Mr. Lupin kindly escort Miss. Evans to the hospital wing. We will finish this talk later."

Lily was hysterical by the time Remus got her to the hospital wing.

"Lily, come on. You need to calm down. You have to breath." Remus tried to calm her.

"What's going on here?" Madame Pomfrey had to come over now.

"Professor Dumbledore told me to bring her. She'd pretty upset."

Poppy guided Lily to a bed and made her lie down. Lily stopped crying. She was looking at the case with the rose petal in it.

"Remus I need you to do me a favor." Lily said. Her voice was surprisingly calm.

"Anything-just tell me what." Remus said. He wanted to help Lily as much as possible, especially after all the things she had done for him.

"Go to the greenhouses. I need a pot and soil." Lily said staring at the petal.

"Lily don't you think we should ask Dum-"

"Remus please. Just do this. I don't have time to convince you." Lily's eyes were desperate.

"Okay okay. I'll be back in a half hour." Remus left and Lily laid back into her pillow. She was passed crying now so she just sat there waiting for Remus to return.

**~~Half Hour Later~~**

Remus walked back into the hospital wing. Lily was just staring straight ahead.

"Lily I got your things." Remus said. Lily snapped her head towards him and waved him over. She took the pot and bag of soil. She placed them on her bed. She opened the case with the petal inside and gently tore one half of it off. Then the other half. The center strip, the part glowing the brightest, was left now. She put some soil in the pot and placed the strip in. She covered it with soil.

"Remus do you have your wand?" He nodded and gave it to her.

Lily conjured a cup of water. She poured some into the pot. She gave the wand back to Remus.

"Thanks." She said as she put the two halves into the case Kerrie gave her.

"Remus I'll be back. This shouldn't take long." She was turning the ring around on her finger.

Remus stared at her confused. He saw her staring intently at her ring.

"Lily no!" But it was too late. She passed out.

*

_Lily landed on her feet. She almost fell but gained control quickly. She ran through the archway not paying attention to the scenery around her._

_ "Kerrie? Kerrie where are you? I got here as quickly as I could. Kerrie!?" Lily yelled. She stopped running and looked around._

_ "Oh my god…"_

_ There was no grass anymore. There were no plants or flowers. It was a desert. All Lily could see was sand and rocks. The sky was black with no moon or stars. Lily felt depressed just looking at the dead area._

_ "Lily! Hurry up, over here!" Lily snapped her head to the left and saw Kerrie waving her over. Lily ran over to her._

_ "Do you have the pieces?" She pressed._

_ Lily nodded and gave her the two pieces left. She then looked at Kerrie. Kerrie had completely changed since Lily first met her. Her once straight brown hair was now a mix of a light brown and gray and was wavy. Her blue eyes now a bright red. She was paler then ever. The only thing the same was the emerald dress she wore along with the gray hooded cloak._

_ "Kerrie what happened to you?"_

_ Kerrie looked at Lily but shook her head, "There's no time for that now Lily. I have too much to do to save the garden. You should leave and don't come back for a while. Things are getting serious…and dangerous."_

_ "Kerrie how do I get back? There is no rose for me to use."_

_ "I had almost forgotten." Kerrie pulled something out from her cloak. Another ring. It was just a simple, thin silver band. "To go back put it on. When you get to school, place the ring on this chain and wear it around your neck. It won't only get you from here, but from many places. You really need to go." Kerrie was pushing Lily away._

_ "Kerrie what aren't you telling me?" Lily asked agitated._

_ "Please Lily. I don't want you to watch."_

_ "What?" But Lily was too late. Kerrie had placed the ring on Lily's finger. Lily could still hear for a minute. The last thing being a long wail that pierced her ear and seemed to ring in her ear._

_*_

Lily came back conscience again. It took a couple of minutes to focus. She looked around. It was hard to see anything because it was dark. She could tell people were there, she just didn't know who. She looked at her finger with the ring on. She took it off and put it on the chain Kerrie had given her. She placed the chain around her neck. He eyes were adjusted to the dark. It was still hard to tell who was who but she saw three girls, which Lily concluded were her roommates. Then there was one boy but Lily didn't know who it was.

Lily reached to the side and pushed a button. Madame Pomfrey came in a couple of minutes later.

"Glad to see you're back. You have to stay until morning. The headmaster wishes to speak with you. Take this, it's a sleeping potion." Poppy whispered to Lily.

Lily drank the potion and fell into a very deep sleep.


	22. Year 2 Chapter 8

Lily woke up at about nine the next morning. There was no one in the room. She guessed that her friends went to breakfast. Without having to push the button, Madame Pomfrey walked in.

"Good morning Lily. How are you feeling?"

"Good thank you."

"The headmaster should be here soon to talk to you. Eat some breakfast." Poppy said gently handing her a breakfast tray.

Lily ate her breakfast alone. She was surprisingly hungry but realized she hasn't eaten anything yesterday. She stayed in bed waiting for Dumbledore to come.

She waited for about half an hour. Dumbledore came in and sat in a chair at the end of Lily's bed.

"Good morning Miss. Evans. I need to talk to you about what happened yesterday."

Lily got slightly nervous. She thought she had explained everything.

"Lily, after you told me about Jack's mother, and how you saw what happened, I got very curious. Then when you told me about Emma, I thought it would be best to go check on the house to make sure everything was ok."

"It wasn't…was it professor?"

"No Lily it wasn't. I found Emma in the living room and her parents in the kitchen. They are dead."

Lily looked away from Dumbledore. Her eyes stung with tears. She wasn't going to let them fall. She took a deep breath and turned back.

"What happened?"

"It seems that they were attacked by a dark wizard. There have been rumors but I don't know much."

Lily could tell Dumbledore was lying. He looked away from Lily as she said that. She kept her mouth shut and let Dumbledore continue.

"I sent for the ministry when I found them. There is an investigation now being started."

Lily nodded her head. She couldn't believe something like this was happening to her.

"Miss Evans, I haven't announced to the school yet what has happened. I am going to do so at dinner tonight. It is still the holiday break though so I'll make another speech when everyone returns. I feel it is necessary to do one now though. You should be out of the hospital wing by then. Please don't tell your friends. At least wait until tonight. I must be going. Good day Lily."

Lily didn't say anything. She watched Dumbledore leave. Lily laid down suddenly feeling very lonely.

Lily got out of the hospital an hour before dinner. She was thinking about skipping it. She didn't want to have to hear what Dumbledore had to say. She didn't want to face her friends. But her hunger was overpowering her. She went straight to the Great Hall and waited for people to start arriving.

It seemed to take forever. Eventually teachers and students started filing in. Lily saw her friends walk through the doors. She turned her head away not wanted to make eye contact. She heard them sit around her and could feel their eyes on her. She looked up. Remus, James and Sirius were staring at her from across the table. To her right was Jess and to her left were Maggie and Jack. Lily wanted to say something-anything- to them but nothing came out of her mouth so she just put her head down and focused on her empty plate.

Lily thought she was going to be sick when Dumbledore stood up and all the chatter in the hall ceased. She couldn't bring her head up.

"Good evening. I have a serious announcement to make. I know only a small fraction of students are here so it will be necessary for me to repeat this once the holidays are over. However, I thought it would be good to inform you." Dumbledore paused. Lily looked up and he was staring at her. She quickly put her head down to avoid her friends seeing her cry. She couldn't hide it though. They saw her and knew something was seriously wrong.

"Emma Withers of Gryffindor house and her family were found dead yesterday morning in their house."

Lily started crying harder. She felt Maggie grip the table hard. She could have sworn Jack passed out but she couldn't bring herself to look at anyone.

"There is an investigation going on as to find out what happened. This is a very tragic event. I will let you know any updates I am given. Now I think you should eat or head up to bed." Dumbledore sat down and whispers among the other tables broke out. Lily felt someone grab her arm.

"Come on Lil."

For the first time Lily looked up and into the bright blue eyes of James. He pulled her up and they, as well as their friends, went to the Gryffindor tower.

*

They all sat down around a fire. They sat in silence for a while.

"Lily, how did you know before us?"

Lily looked at Jess, "I can't tell you." She said quietly.

 "Why not?" Sirius asked.

"Because I can't," Lily said started to get aggravated.

"Lily-what's going on? How did you kn—"

"What!? Do you want me to tell you how I watched her die? Do I need to explain the pain I felt when she died?? Huh? Is that what you want to hear? Well when _you_ know what it's like to feel that, you come find me and I'll gladly explain. Until then, butt out and leave me alone!" Lily was screaming. She felt so much anger. She stormed out of the portrait hole leaving her very confused friends in the common room.

Lily found herself outside by the lake. Her emotions had been building up and it was only a matter of time before she lost it. She realized she would have to explain herself eventually but she was too frustrated to do it now. 

She was breathing heavily and wished to be anywhere but at Hogwarts. She couldn't go see Kerrie since she told her not to go back. She did have the silver ring though. Kerrie had said it would get her to many places. Lily played with the ring for a couple minutes then slid it on her finger—instantly gone from Hogwarts.

*

"Do you think we should go look for her?" James asked.

"No she needs some time to cool off," Remus said.

"Remus?"

"What?"

"Weren't you the one who chased after her Christmas day?"

"Yeah why?"

"Well…where did you go?"

"She had to see Dumbledore."

"About what?"

"Listen this isn't my story to tell. You want to know what's going on then you have to ask Lily, not me."

Remus left the group and went to the boys' dorm. The rest of the group sat in silence, not knowing what to do.

*

Lily found herself in the middle of a street. It looked like she was in a small village. She turned around in a circle. She could see Hogwarts in the distance. Lily started to walk down the street. There were many shops and people were walking around. Lily saw a faded sign that read "Hogsmeade". She instantly recognized the name. It was the village she had overheard a couple third years talking about last year. Lily's curiosity was starting to get the better of her. She really wanted to look around, but as she caught another glance of Hogwarts she restrained herself. She thought about her dorm room and slipped the ring on, transporting there.

*

Lily landed with a thump on her bed. She looked around quickly to make sure no one was there. Relieved that she was alone, she took a deep breath. Lily didn't want to confront her friends, so she closed the curtains around her four-poster, curled up in a call and fell into a deep sleep.


	23. Year 2 Chapter 9

*

Lily woke up early one morning, but feeling very refreshed. She took a shower, got dressed, and decided to go for a stroll around the grounds. It was the last day of Christmas Holidays and everyone would be back at Hogwarts by dinner. Lily wanted to make the most of the last quiet day to make up for the long holiday.

She had eventually explained to her friends, in very skim details, about Emma's death. She had a feeling they were completely confused since she left out the part of how she saw her die. But if they were, they hid it well and comforted Lily.

Lily was by the lake thinking about what would happen tonight when Dumbledore makes the announcement. She figured everyone would probably know already since it had been over a week. She shook these thoughts from her head. She had to move on. Lily started to make her way back up to the castle to go to breakfast.

She was (surprisingly) the first student in the hall. She expected her friends were going to enjoy the quiet by sleeping in. this worked for Lily. She hadn't had a moment to herself. She filled her plate with eggs, sausage and toast and ate in peace.

Lily took so long to eat, that by the time her plate was cleared magically, her friends were entering the Great Hall for a brunch. Lily stood up hastily and headed towards the doors. She muttered a 'Good morning' and retreated to the common room.

"Geez, she has been acting so weird lately."

"Well give her a break James! She's had a rough year," Jess said.

"Yeah, just give her some time. She'll be back to normal." Maggie agreed.

Lily's friends sat down at their table and ate breakfast silently.

*The Following Day*

Lily woke up early again. She was feeling energized for the first time in a while. She has no reason to be, as Dumbledore had made the announcement to the whole school about Emma and her family. Lily couldn't pin point her sudden mood swing. She figured it was some sort of relief. Whatever it was, Lily was glad it happened. She couldn't stand being depressed and isolated.

Lily got her robes on, grabbed her books and headed down to the common room. She sat down on a couch in front of the fire and waited for one of her friends to come down so they could go to breakfast.

She only had to wait a few minutes before she heard footsteps on the girls' staircase. She looked and saw Jess heading towards her.

"Morning Jess!" Lily greeted.

"Morning. Aren't you the chipped one this morning. Sleep well?"

"Perfect thanks. Ready for some breakfast?"

"Definitely, Let's go!"

Lily and Jess left the common room and proceeded to the Great Hall talking and laughing.

About halfway through their breakfast (they had been joined by Jack and Maggie a few minutes after arriving), James, Sirius and Remus ran into the hall; grabbed a piece of toast and then ran out again. The girls gave each other puzzled looks. Then Peter came trotting in, breathless, grabbed some toast and ran out. The girls burst into laughter while several Gryffindors gave them looks.

Lily's classes went very well that day. She earned at least five points for Gryffindor in every class. She was talking to all her friends and laughing again. She felt like herself finally and it was visible. Her emerald eyes were glowing and she couldn't stop smiling. It seemed that by every class, she was getting more and more hyper. By dinner, Lily was laughing at the stupidest things. Maggie couldn't help teasing her by saying random things, but one set Lily off the edge.

"Hey Lily…bogie."

Lily went in hysterics. She fell off her chair clutching her stomach. Tears came to her eyes and she was gasping for air. The rest of her friends were laughing pretty hard at Lily. Lily was just recovering while they left the Great Hall, but Maggie would whisper something stupid in her ear and set Lily off again.

At around eleven, Lily dragged herself up to bed. Her laughing fit, as much fun as it was, put her off schedule so she had to do all her homework late. Lily was now dead tired but she had a feeling the rest of the year was going to improve.


	24. Year 2 Chapter 10

*FEBRUARY*

"Mr. Black, if you would please take your seat I can begin my lesson."

Sirius sat down with a grin on his face. He was telling the class about James and his latest prank on the Slytherins. He was just getting to the climax when McGonagall walked in.

"Now today class, I would like to try turning these shamrocks into roses. It involves some tricky wand movements. Watch closely."

But Lily's eyes were out the window. She saw two distant figures making their way from the forest back to the school.

"How odd…" she thought. Lily looked around the classroom. Then it clicked: Remus was missing. Lily silently took out a roll of parchment that had the recordings of the full moon.

"I can't believe I forgot!" She thought to herself. Lily started to fell guilty. She hadn't thought about becoming an animagus for months. She decided to get back to work that very night.

*That Very Night*

Lily was taking one step at a time. Her arms were filled with books and she couldn't see where she was going. She was very eager to get researching again. The last thing she remembered reading was how to predict what animal she would become. She knew she had little control of the process, but at least wanted an idea to see if it was really worth it. She cringed at the thought of the possibility she could become a rat or something in the pest family. She figured she would be a member of the cat family, but that was a very broad topic.

Lily finally got to a table in the common room. She took out a Muggle notebook and a pen. She still missed some of her old way of life. This action earned a few stares from some of the people there, but she was too preoccupied to notice. She immediately got caught up in her notes and readings. It didn't stop until she was interrupted.

"Lily, what are you still doing up?"

Lily glanced towards the boys' staircase. James was standing there looking half asleep and confused.

"Just some last minute homework. What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep. I thought I'd come sit by a fire for awhile."

"Oh, well don't let me keep you. I really should head up to bed anyway." Lily said as she closed her books etcetera.

"Hey Lily I got a question."

"Okay, shoot."

"Well…do you know what's up with Remus? You guys seem pretty close and all and he's been acting so weird lately," James asked.

Lily dropped the three books she was holding. Her mind ran as she tried to think of something convincing. Her voice shook as she said, "I don't know anything. I mean I could try and talk to him and ask him what's wrong. I can't promise anything tho-"

James cut her off, "Really? Well only if you want to go ahead. But I don't know…it's just…never mind. I'll let you go to bed. Goodnight Lily."

"Night James." Lily said and quickly left the common room; leaving James to stare intently into the fire.

*

Valentine's day came quickly to the students. Lily was getting sick of hearing Jack talk about the holiday and spent most of her time with Maggie who despised the holiday.

The boys (as in James, Sirius and Remus) gave the girls (as in Lily and her friends) different types of flowers. Lily got a Tiger lily. Her other roommates each got a rose that changed colors. Lily didn't bother with any gifts. She thought it would be a bit silly. All she would have gotten was the candy hearts with sayings like "I like you" on it.

That evening in the common room everyone was surprised to see decorations hanging up. There were red, pink and white balloons tied onto chairs and other pieces of furniture. Streamers of the same theme were thrown all over the place, hanging around the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Paper hearts with every Gryffindor were taped up onto the staircases.  Lily laughed when she saw candy hearts absolutely everywhere. But as everything else in the wizarding world, they were charmed. The words would change. Sometimes into insults. There were pitchers of pumpkin juice on tables as well as some finger foods. Gryffindor house had a mini party but most of the students went to bed around eleven to eleven thirty, being a school night. Lily was one of these people. She was exhausted. She had participated in a dance contest between some girls. Lily surprisingly came in second, which wasn't bad since most of the girls were above her (4th years etc.). She slowly got changed into her pajamas and slid under the covers. She glanced at her flower then drifted into a dreamless sleep.

The next day Lily woke up in a good mood. But by the end of breakfast she was getting frustrated. All of the girls were complaining about how terrible Valentine's Day was for them. Lily got fed up and left the Great Hall. Maggie, who did not want to listen to people whine either, followed her. They walked slowly to their first class, transfiguration, talking about the latest prank of James and Sirius. They had hexed Malfoy and Snape's robes to constantly changed colors. The hex seemed to have an odd effect though and their skin kept changing colors with it.

The bell rang signally that breakfast was over. Lily and Maggie were just by the classroom. They entered and took their seats in the second row from the back. Soon everyone was settled in and Professor McGonagall walked into the room.

"Okay class, books away. Time for a pop quiz on your animal transfigurations."

The entire class groaned as they pushed their books off their tables. McGonagall came around handing out the written part, only five questions, then called each student up to transfigure a brown mouse into a perfect silver tea kettle. Lily's teakettle was almost perfect but when you picked it up, it started to squeal. The class left at the end of the period very unhappy.

*

That night, Lily was playing with her ring (the rose one. She still wears the other one on a chain around her neck). She was only twisting it halfway to each side so she would not look into the rose. She wanted to see Kerrie again. She twisted the ring some more so she could start to see the outline of a petal when…

"Hey Lily! What are you up to?" Sirius said. He has snuck up behind Lily's char and pushed her in the back. Startled, Lily turned the ring back around and faced Sirius.

"Hi Sirius. I was just thinking."

"Oh well we were all wondering if you would be interested in playing a few rounds of Exploding Snap." Sirius said as he came around the chair in front of Lily. He grabbed her hands and pulled her out of the chair then dragged her over to the carpet they were playing on.

"I guess I don't really have a choice huh?" Lily said as she laughed

"Of course not. Now sit." Sirius pushed down on her shoulders.

They played a few games but once Lily set the end of her hair on fire, she declined another game and decided to work on her animagus research in her dormitory. She said goodnight to all her friends and slipped up the stairs. She got changed, grabbed one of her research books, her notebook and her pen. She closed the curtains around her bed and took notes by an inflammable flame. **_* _**_Author's note: if that makes any sense, which I doubt, it means one that won't burn anything*****_ She heard her friends come on and they got quiet after a while. Lily figured they fell asleep. She realized it must be late so she closed her notebook and extinguished the flame. Curling up under the covers, she felt restless and lied awake for quite a long time.


	25. Yet another author's note

Hey everyone!  
  
Sorry it took so long for me to update. But I just added 6 chapters! I'm definitely catching up to the story I've already posted on the HP boards. So hopefully you'll keep reading.  
  
A little note.yeah.my notebook is MIA right now. so I can't even post new story on the boards DAH. This affects you because I have to have new stuff so I can post new chapters.  
  
Craziness! 


	26. Author's Apologies

So sorry everyone about the lack of updates!!  
  
Since school started things have gotten so crazy. And then there are clubs and other things I'm a part of so I've been redonkulously busy and haven't had a minute to spare.  
  
I'm going to try and update this site ASAP.  
  
Thanks for all your reviews! Keep 'em coming! 


	27. and more apologies

Hey everyone!

Thank you for all the reviews! It's really cool that I'm still getting them. 

I can't apologize enough for the abandonment of my story. Things just got really stressful with school, colorguard, family/friends stuff. I don't know when I'm going to be able to start writing something new, but I will try and get this site up to date at least. I think I've just been lazy to upload new chapters etc.

Thank You again everyone! I'll try to stop by more often.


	28. Year 2 Chapter 11

Hey everyone! Sorry it has taken so long to get some new stuff up, but I'm only uploading one chapter tonight. There's only 2 more chapters after this until we're caught up with the harrypotter.com message boards posting. I really want to get some new stuff there and then continue uploading here. I think that this post is a semi-cliff hanger. Not so much as the two to come. Hope to get some more reviews!

*MARCH*

Schoolwork seemed to increase once the month of March started. The teachers seemed to think that exams were right around the corner. Through, the Easter holidays were still a while away. Lily was started to slip in her classes, but didn't seem to worry much. She still has As in everything so she didn't care. She spent more of her time working on the animagus procedure. Her research was progressing well and she figured she would be ready by the end of the year, January at the latest. She found this hard to believe, as it was suppose to take several years.

It was a rather chilly night and Lily was working on a potions essay in the common room. The tower was half empty as the older students were in Hogsmeade. As Lily wrote down how many newts' eyes were needed in a headache potion, *_Author's note: factual? Who knows!* _ she though about how easily she could be anywhere because of the ring Kerrie gave her. All she would have to do is think about was where she wanted to be. She could go across the world. Lily thought that was a bit of a stretch so she kept writing down ingredients and the dangers of overdosing. 

Lily was excited when she woke up on March 17th, Saint Patrick's Day. She was half Irish, which she thought was a dead giveaway, having red hair and such fair skin. She got dressed in a green turtleneck that matched her eyes perfectly. She put her hair in a braid and tied a green ribbon at the end. After grabbing her books she headed to breakfast alone.

Her friends gradually joined her at the table, Jack being the last one to arrive. She said she has to talk to a teacher before class. The meal was filled with conversations of the upcoming Quidditch match. The bell rang and they all headed for Herbology.

Professor Dailey, in good spirits, let the class go outside to look for four leaf clovers. Lily and James were the most successful, each finding 3 clovers. They shared them with their friends and then headed off to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The Professor *_Author's note: I can't remember if I made up a name for the DADA teacher so…yeah_*** **also had a surprise for them. The students had all entered the room and taken out their books. The Professor came in not long after, followed by a few little men dressed in green suits with top hats. Throughout the lesson, the leprechauns (as they were introduced) did little tricks, like dropping coins, and making a formation to insult the professor. Everyone left the class in a cheery mood, looking forward to the rest of their lessons.

They were terribly disappointed upon arriving to their Potions classroom after lunch….

Professor Dailey was waiting for the class to enter the classroom. Cauldrons were already set up with water in them.

"Pop test!" Professor Dailey yelled with enthusiasm.

The class went into hysteria. You couldn't understand a word anyone was saying. After a few minutes of screeching and yelling, Professor Dailey cast a silencing charm on them.

"Okay listen up! As you can see, there are numerous ingredients on my desk. You will be making the counter potion to the silencing charm that I have placed on you. Working in pairs, you will test your potion on each other. I'm allowing one question per group. You have one hour. If you have forgotten any of these instructions, they are on the board. Begin."

The class was in a panic. They had done this potion weeks ago. Sirius was Lily's partner.

Not being able to talk while working in pairs was no easy task. Lily got the ingredients she could remember they needed. Sirius lit the fire and got the water to a low boil. They used a rather odd type of sign language, making and gestures and using the ingredients. Sometimes they would write longer questions on a piece of parchment.

They had gotten to the last ingredient. Sirius asked Lily on the parchment if they should use their question now. Most people had already used theirs. Lily shook her head. She answered in reply 

_ 'I'd rather ask how long we wait to take it'_

Sirius nodded in agreement. They chose an ingredient and put it in. they then waved Professor Dailey over to ask about how many minutes they needed to wait.

She wrote _'Simmer for 5 minutes. Cooling charm for 10. Taste.'_

The pair mouthed 'thank you' and waited for the time to taste it.

  


The fifteen minutes they had to wait before testing it seemed to take forever to pass. Lily constantly checked her watch, which didn't help much either. Sirius was sitting calmly in his chair, drawing on a piece of parchment. Finally Lily's watch beeped. Sirius and Lily glanced at each other. They hadn't conversed who would be taking the potion yet.

"I'll take it," Lily mouthed.

"No I will," Sirius mouthed back.

"No, Its okay, I will," Lily pressed.

"We both will," Sirius mouthed to her.

Lily nodded. They each got a glass and filled it with a little bit of the potion. They clinked glasses and chugged the liquid.

Lily thought she was going to gag. She started feeling faint. She glanced at Sirius and he was deathly pale. Lily tried to speak but nothing came out. She tried to walk but as soon as she started to move, the floor began to spin. Lily closed her eyes and fell. A thud next to her signaled Sirius had done the same. As soon as their bodies hit the ground, they both blacked out.

Lily opened her eyes and was looking at a blue sky. Her head was aching. She leaned up slowly to look around. Her eyes enlarged as she realized where she was. She had returned to the garden. It was re-grown and looked even more beautiful than she remembered. She turned her head and saw Sirius sitting next to her.


	29. Year 2 Chapter 12

Hey everyone! Got another chapter for you! Only one more after this and we'll be caught up with the board. Band season is basically over so I'm going to have a lot more free time (well sort of). Hopefully I'll be able to write brand new stuff soon. Thank you for all the reviews, I'm glad you like it. 

In answer to Kat's question: I have considered professional writing. In fact I'd love to become an author or journalist or something.

Enjoy the post! (It's another semi-cliff hanger)

Lily swiftly got to her knees and tried to wake Sirius up. Her mind was racing. What is she suppose to tell him? Maybe she could leave with him before he came to his senses. She stopped moving. How did she get here in the first place? She didn't even have the ring on during potions. She looked at her hand, staring at the now present ring on her finger. She didn't understand at all.

Lily returned to the task of waking Sirius up. After about five minutes of shaking, poking and prodding, he began to stir. Lily stood up and looked around nervously. The garden had many more flowers this time.  Roses, lilies, sunflowers, tulips, carnations, daffodils, and many that Lily didn't recognize. There were now fruit trees growing like apples and lemons. Bushes were lined up against the walkway. A small fountain was set in the middle with benches. The grass was a perfect shade of green with no dry spots. The sky was blue with no clouds. And finally Lily's eyes fell upon the archway. It was covered in ivy and completely visible was a large red rose, isolated on a single bush. Lily started to walk towards it but something grabbed her ankle.

"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed as she turned around.

"Lily. I don't think the potion was brewed properly but her at least we got our voices back. Why don't we-" Sirius stopped speaking as he finally observed his surroundings. "Where are we?" he said still looking around.

Lily stayed silent. She didn't know what to do.

"Lily?"

"Um…Sirius, I can't really explain. We just need to get out of here." Lily said grabbing Sirius's hand and steering him to the archway.

They passed through and the darkness fell. Stars were noticeable in the sky. The rose was sparkling in the twilight. Lily reached to her neck and pulled out the silver ring. 

"Sirius, take this and-"

"Lily!" a voice spoke

"Kerrie?" Lily questioned

"Lily I'm so glad you're here. What so you think of the garden?"

Kerrie's voice was nothing above a whisper. It was rough and not welcoming at all.

"Oh it's beautiful. How did you manage?"

"Another secret I'll have to keep to myself," Kerrie replied.

"Ahem."

Lily had practically forgotten Sirius was there.

"Kerrie, I need to be going, there's been a slight accident…"

Sirius came into view.

"Oh my…Lily you need to leave immediately…he hasn't been invited here…oh no. Please hurry." Kerrie's voice had risen to a raspy level. Her eyes were red.

"Sirius, take this ring, think about Hogwarts and put it on." Lily shoved the ring in his hand. She headed towards the rose.

"But Lily, wh-"

"Just do it." Kerrie yelled. Her voice was now more of a harsh screech.

Lily grabbed a rose petal but not before Sirius grabbed her shoulder.


	30. Year 2 Chapter 13

Hey everyone! I'm so pleased to see I got so many more reviews!! Apparently I have a different thought of what a semi-cliff hanger is. But I definitely think that this post is a cliff hanger (so that must mean its an ultra cliffy lol). It's a short chapter though. And this also means I have no new story yet. This is the last post of old stuff. Enjoy it!!!

The familiar blinding white light came rushing towards Lily. Sirius was holding his free hand up to his eyes. In only a couple seconds, Lily and Sirius found themselves in someone's bathroom.

Lily turned to Sirius and glared. Sirius trued to speak but Lily cupped her hand over his mouth with an anxious look. She motioned him to follow. They walked out of the bathroom and into a bedroom. Lily could hear voices coming from somewhere. She walked out of the bedroom and faced a stairwell going up. She felt Sirius's hand touch her shoulder but she started to walk upwards. A door stood ajar at the top. Lily and Sirius passed through the entranceway.

There was a person in a black cloak standing there, their back facing them. Across the room, a young boy was crouched in a corner. The person in the cloak was slowly creeping forwards. Lily was trying to hear what he was saying.

" – your parents mistake."

The boy stayed quiet.

"Scared? You should be. Your lousy parents messed up everything. And I'm here to make sure they pay."

The boy remained silent, shaking in the corner.

The figure aimed a wand at the boy.

"Silencio."

He crept closer.

"Crucio!"

The boy's mouth opened to scream but no sound came out. He fell on his side quaking convulsively. 

The cloaked stranger disappeared in an instant.

Lily felt herself screaming in pain as the boy trembled in pain. She fell to the floor and closed her eyes. She opened them again to find herself on the floor of the potions classroom. The entire class was around them. Lily looked to her side. Sirius was staring at her. He was shuddering slightly. He drew closer to Lily so he was right in front of her face.

"James. It was James."


	31. Year 2 Chapter 14

Hey everyone! I HAVE NEW STORY FOR YOU! It may not be a lot, but it is something. I hope you enjoy it! Hopefully I'll get to write some more soon. Let me know what you think!

Lily's eyes were practically popping out of her head. 

"What? But it ca-"

"Lily! Sirius! You two must go straight to the hospital wing. This is the last time I do this exercise. Go on now. Someone from your house will bring your stuff along." Professor Daily was pushing them out of the room.

Lily and Sirius walked to the Hospital Wing in silence. They told Madam Pomfrey that they had made a potion wrong. She forced them to lie down and eat some chocolate. They were to stay overnight.

They didn't have any visitors but they were grateful for that. Neither spoke a word until the following morning.

"Lily, are you awake?"

Lily opened her eyes. She had been pretending to sleep for an hour, waiting to see if Sirius would speak. She turned over in her bed to face him.

"Good morning Sirius."

"Morning," he mumbled quickly but then made sure to say very clearly, "I think we need to talk."

The last thing Lily wanted to do was talk about the previous day's events. She knew very well that she couldn't tell Sirius the details about the garden, or who Kerrie was, Mainly because she was not even sure herself. She could not help but be angry at Sirius for following her in the first place.

"What do you want to discuss" was her reply.

"Stop being smart. Where were we? Who was the girl? How did we get there? Why were we-"

"Sirius stop! I cannot answer any of those questions."

"And why not?"

"Because…I…can't-"

"Ah, you two are finally up." Madam Pomfrey had entered the room, bustling about and checking them over.

"It appears that both of you are perfectly fine, and are free to leave. But if you feel off for even half a second, you are to come straight back to the hospital wing." With that statement she pulled the curtain around Lily's bed closed so she could change.

Lily rushed herself and swiftly left the hospital wing before Sirius could catch her. What she was not aware of was that Sirius had gotten out before her and was waiting outside the exit to meet her.

"Fine. Don't tell me. But whether you realized it or not, I know you have an extremely dangerous secret. I've lived through it. So like it or not I'm part of it now. Do you have anything to say?"

Lily just stared at him.

"Good because I am not done yet. Do not even think to mention to anyone that you saw James like that. Knowing that you won't spill your secret I highly doubt you would but I am his best friend. I do not think it would please him to know that someone had knowledge of his childhood. For heaven's sake I am not even aware of the details."

"Sirius, I am familiar with this already."

"Right of course. I am going to go now but don't doubt for a second that I won't ask you every day to know what happened."

"Check."

Lily walked away into a foreign hallway. She did not pay attention to where she was going and ended up walking into a statue. It did not faze her though and she continued on her way. An hour later she ended up at the Fat Lady portrait. She mumbled the password and headed inside.

As soon as she was in, her friends bombarded her. She excused herself by saying she needed to get some more rest. She retreated to her dormitory, feeling the burn of Sirius's eyes upon the back of her head.


	32. A NEW AUTHOR'S NOTE 32705

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

For the past couple days I've been going over my story (after a very long hiatus I know) and I've decided that I would really like to get back into it. So this morning I've printed out everything I had typed (and posted) and I'm going to read it to try and get back in and see where I was going with it. Hope I have a couple readers left, rest assured that there will be story soon!

Thanks for waiting for about a year :-D

Sarah


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